56th anniversary of first ascent on Mount Everest celebrated in Siliguri

Silliguri, May 30 (ANI): The Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation (HNAF), a NGO in Siliguri on Friday celebrated the 56th anniversary of climbing the Mount Everest for the first time.

Sir Edmund Hillary of Newzeland and Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the top of the 8,850 metre (29,035 feet) mountain on May 29, 1953.

The day was marked by felicitating the statue of Tenzing Norgey in the morning. A blood donation camp was organised later to promote adventure sports among the younger generation.

"The main objective is to promote adventure sports. We are promoting adventure sports because it has been losing interest in North and West Bengal," said Dipesh Raha, general secretary, HNAF.

Chirag Chatterjee, a blood donor said it is a good way to promote adventure sports in the state.

"Definitely this event surely encourages us to look forward to adventure sports because we can meet various people who have remarkable achievements in adventure sports. There are many mountaineers joining this event and they are real life inspirations for us. That's why this is a very successful event which draws us towards adventure sports," said Chatterjee.

More than 3,000 people have climbed Everest from the Nepali and Tibetan sides since 1953. (ANI)