Click to play videoNew Delhi: The mighty Mount Everest standing tall at over 29,000 feet its now under threat. China is planning a state-of-the-art road on the world’s tallest mountain.
The plan is to showcase Everest to the world at the time of the Olympics next year.
A tarred metal road running into 108 km is being constructed to boost tourism and also to ensure the Olympic torch is carried to the mountain’s base camp.
However, for environmentalists across the world, it’s time to ring the alarm bells.
"A lot of blasting and construction will have to be done to make the road. So it’s not a good idea,†says Glaciologist with Centre for Policy Research Syed Iqbal Hasnain.
He says the road is an ecological disaster in the making.and will lead to
- Sparse vegetation being eroded.
- Burning of fossil fuels.
- Local flora and fauna disturbed.
- More garbage from tourism.
But China says the road will help boost local tourism.
"People have been complaining about the poor road conditions to the base camp. There are too many turns instead of straight lines, so it is not such a safe road. It is hoped that the road can be improved so as to provide more convenience to the tourists in the future,†says Chairman of the Tibet autonomous regional government Qiangba Puncog.
Everest accounts for 1/5th of the world's population's water needs. And India's rivers, the Ganga and Brahmaputra too will suffer, if there's a change in the Everest ecosystem.
"Area's major drainage is the Tsangpo river all that water goes into India," says Colonel N Kumar of Himalayan Explorations.
Its India's water security which maybe affected- the question now is will India voice a strong of protest with China to avert this ecological disaster?
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