KATHMANDU, Sept 23: Nepal will measure Mount Everest afresh to settle a controversy over height of the world’s tallest peak, especially after some estimates suggested it became a little shorter in the wake of an earthquake two years ago, officials said on Friday.
Nepal has never measured the peak on its own and uses its snow height of 8,848 meters (29,028 feet) that was measured by the Survey of India in 1954.
Food crisis looms large as drought hits Madhesh districts
Many Western climbers use the height of 8,850 meters (29,035 feet) determined in 1999 by the National Geographic Society and Boston’s Museum of Science, in a survey that used satellite-based technology to measure the peak.
In 2005 Chinese mountaineers and researchers put its height at 8,844.43 meters (29,017 feet).
Ganesh Prasad Bhatta, director general of the Nepal government’s Survey Department said an expedition would be made next year to settle the debate.
