Bhopal: Megha Parmar will be the first woman from Madhya Pradesh to climb Mount Everest. On Thursday night, she left for Delhi from where she will set out on 90-day journey through Kathmandu. The 24-year-old Parmar who hails from Bhojnagar village in Sehore district had hoisted the Indian flag on the Himalayan mountain range Dev Tibba last year.
An experienced mountaineer, Parmar, 24, spoke to Free Press before beginning of her voyage. Parmar told Free Press that she felt motivated after reading about mountaineer Ratnesh Pandey in newspapers in 2015. “When I contacted MP sports department, I came to know that there is no female mountaineer from state to have scaled Mount Everest. I took it as a challenge.” She trained under mountaineers Ratnesh Pandey and Jalaj Saxena from Jhabua. She undertook training in Manali from March 3 to 19 where she learned rappelling and other techniques.
According to Parmar, 90- day journey will cost Rs 22 lakh. “I belong to middle class family and my father Damodar Parmar is a farmer. We asked MP government to help, which said it will pay once I achieve the feat. Certain companies have sponsored it,” said Parmar who is pursuing M Sc (yoga). She said all credit goes to their parents, trainers and teachers. Earlier, she took part in save environment, women empowerment, water conservation, de-addiction programmes through NSS.
