China to ban polluting tourist vehicles near Mt Everest

As part of its efforts to reduce pollution in the area, China has announced its plan to ban polluting tourist vehicles at the Mount Everest base camp in Tibet from next year onwards.

Eco-unfriendly tourist transport vehicles will be banned from base camp and permit electric golf-style buggies to raise the income of the locals, China-Tibet Online reported. Locals, who live below the poverty line, will be employed as tour guides and drivers of new electric golf-style buggies to and from the camp.

“It will help reduce pollution in the area and raise the income of locals,” the state-run Global Times quoted Wangqiong, deputy head of Tingri Tibetan county, as saying. “This area has a fragile environment and its natural conditions have limited processing capabilities of trash and sewage, which must be handled very carefully,” he said.

Wangqiong said that a professional cleaning company has been hired to maintain the area and every visitor will receive trash bags to promote cleanup.

Source: ET