Nepal to re-measure Mt Everest height on its own

Kathmandu: For the first time, Nepal will re-measure the height of the Mt Everest on its own, amid reports that the height of the world's highest peak has changed after the deadly 2015 earthquake in the Himalayan nation.

The height of the peak was last determined at 8,848 metres in 1955, by an Indian survey.

"The Department of Survey, government of Nepal will re- measure the height of Mt Everest very soon," said Deputy Director General of the Department Neeraj Manandhar, who is directly involved in the task of conducting the survey.

"There are reports that changes are noticed in the height of the Everest due to the recent earthquakes. We are conducting the survey of the Everest on our own," he said.

The department is currently working on preparing infrastructure such as acquiring equipment for the survey, he told PTI.

After the necessary infrastructure becomes ready the survey work will begin within the current fiscal year, he informed.

Various international experts have claimed that the height of the Everest has changed over the time. The US and Chinese teams have given different heights of the Everest, sparking controversy. This has necessitated the task of re- measuring the height so as to ascertain the correct height, Manandhar said.

In 2005, Chinese team concluded that the height of the Everest is 8,844 metres on the basis of the rock without taking into account the snow covering the mountain peak.

However, Nepal government has taken the snow as the basis for measuring the height.

Another important reason for re-measuring the height is that we wanted to know if the devastating earthquake of April 2015 made any significant change in the height, he pointed out.

"The Department of Survey possesses all the technical know-how for measuring the height of the mountain and we will bear the cost on our own," he said.

The department has estimated two years' time period for completing the survey and a budget of 250 million Nepalese rupees has been allocated for the purpose.

"Nepal has not measured the height of the Everest on its own and this time we are doing so," he added.

The base of measuring the height will be Indian mean sea level, he added.