KATHMANDU, July 30: The government has initiated the process of opening 57 more mountain peaks in Nepal for climbing. The Department of Tourism has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation with a list of mountains to be opened for climbing.

Kali Bahadur Bhujel, spokesperson for the Department of Tourism, said that 57 new mountains will be opened for climbing after the ministry's approval.

"We tried to complete the process of opening the new mountains for climbing in the last fiscal year, FY 2023/24 but we were able to submit the proposal only in the beginning of the current fiscal year," Bhujel said.

The government’s policies and programmes of the last fiscal year mentioned about opening new mountains for climbing. The department informed that the policy will be implemented this year. According to Bhujel, most of the rural municipalities have agreed to open the mountains.

Last June, the department asked those rural municipalities for their opinions on whether the mountains could be opened, considering religious, cultural, and geographical factors. According to the department, most of the new mountains to be opened this time are in Karnali Province. The department has proposed to open 20 mountains in Karnali Province alone.

Similarly, the department has propsed opening 17 mountains in Koshi Province and 16 mountains in Gandaki Province for climbing. So far, the department has opened 405 mountains for climbing.

The height of the proposed mountains and peaks ranges from a minimum of 5,000 meters to a maximum of 6,093 meters. Bhujel mentioned that many more mountains are yet to be opened for climbing and that the department will take initiative to open those mountains as well.

The department collected revenue of Rs 771.3 million in the last fiscal year, FY 2023/24, as royalties from the mountains currently open for climbing.