Kathmandu: Mount Everest will be inaccessible to climbers till May 10 as Beijing fears that Tibetan activists may take the protests to the Everest to disrupt their plans to take the Olympic torch up to the summit.
Tibetan activists have been protesting across the subcontinent against China's illegal occupation of their homeland for the past one week.
China has not fixed an exact date for the planned ascent, but preparations are aimed at late April or early May.
Reports said Nepal has agreed to a Chinese request asking to block access to the peak. According to PTI, the Nepalese authorities have denied any such ban.
Nepalese Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry spokesman Prem Kumar Rai said there was no truth in the reports that the Nepal Government is banning any expedition to Everest in this season.
He, however, said the Nepalese Election Commission may not grant permission to appoint liaison official ahead of the April 10 Constituent Assembly polls. This may cause delay in issuing the permit in this season.
"The Government of China has not asked Nepal to stop issuing permits to scale the world's highest peak Mt Everest (8,848 m) from Nepalese side in this summer starting May," he said.
Nepal Mountaineering Association general secretary Bhumi Lama said he was not sure of banning expeditions to Everest this season. "I have only seen media reports, but I don't have any information about banning the expeditions," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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