SOLUKHUMBU, Aug 20: Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality has decided to impose a complete ban on the use of plastic bags and bottles effective from January 1, 2020.

As per the decision, the use of plastic below 30 microns and plastic bottles will be completely restricted in the Khumbu area.

“The rural municipality endorsed the decision in line with the annual policy and program for the fiscal year 2019/2020,” said Ganesh Ghimire, Chief Administrative Officer of the rural municipality.

The rural municipality has also decided to distribute five different kinds of bags to the people of the region in a bid to replace the use of plastic.

Rural Municipality Spokesperson Lakpa Tshiri Sherpa said that the new measure has been brought keeping in mind the negative impacts of plastic in climate, human health and mountainous ecosystem.

Khumbu, also known as the home of Mount Everest, world’s highest peak, is a part of Solukhumbhu district. Over 50,000 tourists visit the Khumbu region every year to enjoy the breathtaking landscape of Himalayas.

“Failure to protect the environment would lead to catastrophic effect to tourism in the area,” said Sherpa. RSS

SOLUKHUMBU, Dec 9: Left alliance swept all seats in Solukhumbu (one parliamentary and two provincial). CPN (Maoist Center)’s Hem Kumar Rai won a parliamentary seat with 20,912 votes. His nearest rival Nepali Congress’s Bal Bahadur KC received 17,745 votes.

Likewise, left alliance’s Uttam Kumar Basnet won a provincial seat with 10667 votes. His closest contender NC’s Prakash Singh Karki received 8,846 votes.

CPN-UML’s Buddhi Kumar Rajbhandari won a provincial seat with 10387 votes. His nearest rival NC’s Anggelu Sherpa got 7,929 votes. RSS

SOLUKHUMBU, Sept 4: Tourists continue to be affected by the disruption of flights to and from Tenzing- Hillary Airport also known as Lukla Airport based in Lukla of Solukhumbu since the past five days due to adverse weather.

Thick fog and rains have forced the airlines companies to cancel flights since last Wednesday. It was able to operate just two flights on Sunday morning in the past six days, according to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Lukla chief Bachchu Narayan Shrestha.

On Sunday, various airlines companies booked for a total 16 flights from the airport. Because of the disruption of flights, tourists on the way to Lukla have got stuck in Kathmandu while those planning to return after visiting Khumbu region are waiting for the resumption of flights.

The disruption of flights has made business community here worried, said local businessman Jangbu Sherpa.
Khubmu, the famous tourist destination here attracts around 35 thousand tourists every year and among them, over 90 percent use the Lukla Airport for arrivals and departure as this is more convenient route than a trekking, and the land routes to reach the site.

There is no better option for tourists than to travel by plane. It takes at least three days to walk up to meet a nearby road from Lukla. Bearing this in mind, the construction of a road from Salleri to Surke that lies below Lukla, was started five years ago, but a one-third progress is still awaited. RSS