KATHMANDU: Nepali government officials who are deputed to monitor the mountaineering expeditions in the autumn climbing season have yet again breached the country’s Tourism Act and the Mountaineering Regulations as they failed to accompany the world climbers during the entire expedition period. The list of liaison officers obtained by THT Online shows that 43 officers ranging from non-gazetted first class level to under-secretary positions have been assigned to facilitate the world climbers attempting to climb different peaks in the season. Interestingly, 90 per cent of the LOs never reach base camps of the respective mountains to monitor climbing activities. “Only four officials arrived here for a day or two at the base camp of Mt Manaslu,” a base camp official said. According to them, over 150 foreigners and high altitude workers have already summitted the mountain without seeing their LOs throughout the expedition period this autumn. There were 17 teams comprising 151 foreign climbers along with their over 200 climbing Sherpas on the Mt Manaslu this season.   Gross violation of law The Tourism Act clearly states that every liaison officer must accompany the team for the period commencing from the date of departure for mountaineering expedition to the date of arriving after completion of mountaineering expedition and the Mountaineering Regulations mentions that LOs must stay in the base camp during the mountaineering expedition programme. “But, the majority of LOs blatantly breached the regulations,” Director General at the Department of Tourism Sudarshan Prasad Dhakal admitted. Without even making it to the Everest base camp, the 15 liaison officers were also found to have attested climbers as eligible for summit certificates in the last spring season while six LOs returned the same day and five stayed for two to four days at the Everest base camp. An official from the DoT, three security personnel and two from Everest Summiteers Association, however, stayed at the base camp for over two weeks, according to a record maintained by base camp officials. Over 80 per cent of the LOs who had never shown up on the mountains, however, had claimed of having stayed at the base camp for over one to three weeks in order to prohibit the expedition teams or their members from indulging in any unauthorised activities when they filled up the expedition form during the debriefing. Till when? “The trend of violating rules would continue until the government mechanism failed to strictly implement its reward and punishment measures,” he repeatedly said. The LOs charge each Everest expedition nearly USD 3,000 and other expedition team USD 2,000. “All of the LOs have been already paid for their services in the autumn season,” foreign climbers reacted. 'It has been an established practice for many years and we were not the exception,' an officer who stayed in Kathmandu without accompanying his team to the Mt Manaslu told THT Online. “Being an LO is by luck, not by performance,” he said. According to him, there was always an unhealthy competition among the officials as most of them needed to knock the doors of ministers, political leaders and even the Prime Minister to get listed in the LO roster. Officers of the non-gazetted first class or above from civil service and Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel corresponding to the level of civil service gazetted third class and Nepali mountaineers who have successfully climbed the Mt Everest and been recommended by the mountaineering association designated by the Ministry of Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation are eligible to become liaison officers. But no complain? When asked, the expedition organisers said that they could not complain against the liaison officers as they wanted to avoid any further hassle that they would have to face in the government offices. “If complained, they will certainly target us on different occasions ranging from issuance of climbing permits to summit certificates,” a senior manager of a trekking agency said, adding that their noncooperation would adversely affect the businesses. While the government may cancel travel orders and may force them to return the facilities received as per its Regulations from the LOs if they do not accompany the mountaineering expedition team, the Director General reluctantly responded that it was impossible to take such action against them. He, however, declined to furnish the reasons. “It is all because of the negligence, the major output of impunity,” an official at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said.

Liaison Officers – Spring 2016

Mt Everest Durga Datta Dhakal Dola Raj Dhakal Sontash Moktan Nagendra Dhungel Gopal Bhattarai Bina Shrestha Shiva Ranajan Poudel Tanka Bhattarai Saroj Pokharel Gyanendra Kumar Shrestha Rama Gautam Khada Nanda Adhikari Krishna Lamsal Mukta Baskota Sherpa Gopal Bhandari Narendra Raj Thapa Pramod Nepal Gita Parajuli Jhalak Subedi Sabin Dhakal Laxmi Sharma Tika Ram Pandey Ratna Bahadur Katuwal Shekhar Babu Karki Ang Pasang Sherpa Ram Prasad Bhushal Ganesh Bahadur Katuwal Lila Raj Shrestha Vinod Gautam Pawan Kumar Ghimire Lekha Paneru Mahat Rajesh Maharjan Ganesh Prasad Timilsena Mt Lhotse Nagendra Prasad Rokka Risiram Dawadi Sudip Thapa Sarada Shivakoti Narayan Bahadur Thapa Bhim Prasad Panthi Suman Pandit Namarta Chudal Shiva Bahadur Sapkota Tek Raj Bhusal Shree Prasad Poudel Mt Nuptse Amba Datta Joshi Juanendra Pun Tulasi Nath Gautam Rosani Karki Sudip Sing Sunar Nanga Dorji Shrepa Narbada Shrestha Rajendra Kumar Shrestha Mt Manaslu Hari Dhakal Subarna Raj Bhattarai Deepak Kumar Dahal Mt Makalu I Mukesh Dangol Ram Kumar Gautam Bheshraj Ghimire Santi Devi Dahal Radha Sharma Bhattarai Mt Dhaulagiri I Laxman Sharma Khayam Bahadur Thapa Durga Basnet Tulsi Ram Bhandari Mt Annapurna (I, III & IV) Rajendra Raj Dhakal Manoj Kumar Pokharel Rishiram Bhandari Khim Lal Gautam Subir Shrestha Mt Amadablam Nima Kumari Dhital Dhruba Poudel Shree Krishna Khatri Tukuche Peak Narayan Bahadur Kuwar Deepak Ghimire Purushotam Acharya Sandeep Khanal Other Peaks Ranajana Prajapati Rajan Prasad Pokharel Padam Bhandari Bishnu Kumari Bhattarai

SOURCE: DoT