Nepal and China will jointly announce the revised height of Mt Everest, the world's highest peak, probably during the upcoming visit of the Chinese defence minister to the Himalayan nation, PTI stated.
The Nepal government aimed to measure the exact height of the mountain amid debates that there might have been a change in its height due to various reasons, including the devastating earthquake of 2015, it said.
According to the measurement done in 1954 by Survey of India, the height of Mt. Everest is 8,848 meters, The Rising Nepal newspaper reported.
A survey in 2005 found the summit"s rock height at 8,844.43 meters and its ice-snow layer at 3.5 meters deep.
A meeting of Nepal's Council of Ministers held on Wednesday authorised the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation to announce the new height of Mt Everest, The Kathmandu Post reported.
"As the measurement work is in the final stage, the government is preparing to officially declare the new height of Mt. Everest," Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Padma Kumari Aryal said after the Cabinet meeting.
"It is the first time that the government has measured the height of the tallest peak in the world by using its own resources and equipment," she said as quoted in the PTI report.
Quoting sources, MyRepublica newspaper said that Nepal and China are planning to announce the new height of Mt. Everest during the visit of Chinese Defence Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe on Sunday.
However, The Kathmandu Post reported that it was not clear whether the new height of Mt. Everest would be announced during Wei"s day-long visit to Kathmandu on November 29.
