Chandannagar (West Bengal): She has achieved the incredible feat of climbing Mount Everest without using oxygen cylinders. But financial obstacles are proving to be an even more daunting task than conquering the highest peak in the world. Piyali Basak, a school teacher from Chandannagar in West Bengal's Hooghly district climbed Mount Everest without using oxygen cylinders but her achievement will not be given official recognition by the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute if she is unable to pay security deposit of Rs. 4 lakh to the concerned authorities. Now her only hope is crowdfunding.
Since childhood mountains have drawn Basak. This led her to first getting trained at the Chandannagar Mountaineering School and then at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling. After conquering Dhaulagiri peak, she set her sites on Mount Everest.
Despite financial constraints, she started making preparation for climbing Everest and another peak Lhotse. She needed to deposit Rs.35 lakh to the concerned authorities and so far been able to deposit Rs. 25 lakh through crowdfunding. Out of the amount Rs. 15 lakh were given by the Rotary Club of Chandannagar. Out of the remaining Rs. 10 lakh, she needs to deposit Rs 4 lakh to get a certificate from the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.
Basak along with her sherpa only got permission to start climbing Mount Everest after a member of the Rotary Club of Chandannagar, Tapas Saha agreed to become a guarantor for the Rs. 4 lakh. She conquered Mount Everest without any oxygen cylinders on May 22, but if she is not able to deposit Rs 4 lakh, her achievement will not get official recognition and her struggle will go in vain. Currently, Basak is on her way to climb Lhotse. Even if she is successful in climbing it, in this case also she will not get official recognition if she is unable to deposit a security amount of Rs 6 lakh.
