BALTORO CLEAN UP EXPEDITION
AUGUST20-2000
By
Our Sports Reporter (Asem)
ISLAMABAD
— A clean up expedition will leave for Baltoro on Sunday (today).
The
five member expedition will clean up the camp sites of the most visited
mountains the four 8000ers and will bring all the garbage from the camp
sites to the last village Askole.
Farid
Ahmed is leading the side which comprises of Waji Jaffar Shigri, Karim
Hayat, Shaista Khan and Waqar Ahmed.
Due
to slackness from the authorities the environmental degradation remains
unchecked on the pristine highlands which are the home of Karakorums.
The
traffic amount up to many a thousands during the season with porters going
to an fro on the Baltoro Glacier.
A
source close to The Nation said," The incinerator brought by the
French expedition in 1999 was
not operational and it does not serve any purpose now for which it was
carried all the way in 1999."
The
five member team is assisted by 100 porters and expedition is likely to
take 20 odd days to clean up the camp sites.
The
ministry inefficiency was also criticized as it failed to curb the
practise of guides and liaison officers who do not report of the garbage
left by the expeditions.
The
clean up expedition called a ban on the use of tin on Baltoro which is
piled up with batteries and tin cans.
The
two things are not biodegradable and they remain polluting the environment
for decades.
One
American Chris Shaw in his recent interview with The Nation said," I
have found the oxygen bottle of 1954 Italian K-2 expedition and I am
taking this priceless thing back home."
Chris
Shaw reached the summit of K-2 on July 30 between 1-2:00 pm.
Hungarian
Broad Peak Clean Up expedition removed the ropes between Camp 1 and 2 and
burned them at the sites.
"The
ministry should have assisted us," said David Klein leader of the
expedition adding," We had a very strong team and we could have
removed the old and dangerous ropes that are hanging on the mountain for
decades but we had no money to bring the garbage from Baltoro and removing
the garbage from the camp sites requires porter assistance which was
minimum in our case as we were not a rich expedition."
The
expedition is sent with the joint collaboration of Alpine Club and
National Development Finance Corporation.