No plan to change Everest height in Bengal school books till notified by authorities in country

Kolkata, December 11

The West Bengal School Education Department may notify the revised height of Mount Everest in its portal only if any competent authority in the country endorses the announcement made by Nepal and China that the present height of the world’s highest peak is now 8,848.86 metres, an official said.

The text books which have already been printed and to be distributed in January mentions the height of Mt Everest as 8,848 metres, as known for over 60 years, and there is no communication from any competent authority in the country as yet for revising the figure, chairman of Syllabus Committee Aveek Majumder said.

“Till any competent authority in the country like Geological Survey of India (GSI) notifies about a change in the height of Mt Everest, National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) incorporates it in its record, and the government issues any advisory, we cannot take other reports to be authentic versions,” he said.

Asked whether the books would be rolled back if tbe authority concerned in the country gives its seal of approval to the revised height and incorporates it in its record, Majumder said, “hypothetically speaking, in such a situation, the updates will be uploaded in the school education department portal (banglar shiksha.gov.in) which can be accessed by schools and teachers. The teachers will then inform the students”.

The world’s highest peak is now taller by 86 centimetres, Nepal and China jointly announced on Tuesday after they remeasured Mt. Everest at 8,848.86 metres, over six decades after India conducted the previous measurement in 1954. PTI