Mumbai: Four tribal students from Maharashtra have successfully scaled Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said Tuesday evening.
The students were among ten from Ashramshalas (state-run residential schools for tribals) from Chandrapur district, selected for the Everest expedition as part of the Tribal Development department’s ‘Mission Shaurya 2018’, he said.
Umakant Madavi (19), Parmesh Ale (19), Manisha Dhurve (18) and Kavidas Kathmode (18) scaled Everest in the wee hours of Wednesday. Two other members of the team will attempt to climb the summit in the next two days, Mr Mungantiwar said.
Kavidas Kathmode and Umakant Madavi reached the summit around 3.25 am, while Manisha Dhurve and Parmesh Ale followed an hour later.
“This is a historic achievement. They have made their Ashramshala as well as Chandrapur district proud,” Mr Mungantiwar said.
The team, with members aged between 18 and 21, had left on April 11 from Mumbai for the 60-day expedition.
The selection process had begun in July 2017 with a school-level screening of 60 students, out of which 45 were selected for the foundation training in Wardha.
After further shortlisting, 18 were selected for a mountaineering course at Darjeeling, and thirteen of them were sent for advanced training in Leh before selecting the final team.
