The valorous civil servants who had conquered the highest peak of the world on May 19 arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday. The team had descended to Lukla on Monday and flew to the Tribhuwan International Airport where they were welcomed amid much fanfare by the chief secretary and secretaries, family members and delegates from different organisations.
Although fifteen civil servants had reached the base camp initially, efforts of six of them went futile, while nine members made it to the top with the assistance of 15 Sherpas. The employees had aimed to have a firsthand experience on the impact of climate change in the mountains and also draw the world’s attention that would help promote Nepal Tourism Year-2011. Speaking at a programme organised by the Ministry of Tourism and Civil aviation at the Nepal Tourism Board, Chief Secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire congratulated the conquerors and the Sherpas who assisted them during the expedition. “These civil servants deserve the highest accolade for their success,” Ghimire said.
Lila Mani Poudel, who had led the fifteen civil servants to the base camp on April 7, said he was as happy as the conquerors although he could not scale the world’s acme. Poudel was called back by the government after his appointment as the secretary to the home ministry in the second week of May. “The civil servants had also prayed for the world peace on top of Everest as they had taken soil from Lumbini, the birth place of the Lord Buddha, along with them,” Poudel informed. “We have set an example that even the civil servants can undertake any kind of daredevil feats if the situation demands,” Lakshman Bhattarai, the oldest member of the team, told the Post. “Though I couldn’t ascend due to health reasons, this success is for every civil servant in the world to cheer.”
The youngest member of the team, Khimlal Gautam shared a horrifying experience of the venture. “I was the first one to scale Everest among my team mates. The wind on the top was around 80 km/hrs. Behind me was Subir Shrestha. Upon reaching the top Shrestha was suddenly knocked down by a gale,” he said. “Had it not been for the safety rope that was tied around his body he would have fallen into a gorge of the Tibet.” Named as Nepal Civil Servant First Everest Campaign- 2011, the drive came to the limelight when the government made a quaint decision of funding the Everest expedition to the interested and selected candidates. Mountain Academy of Nepal had helped screen the candidates and trained the selected ones. The total cost of whopping 30 million has been funded by the government.
