As a part of the celebration marking completion of 250 years in existence, the Survey of India - with its headquarters in Dehradun - has proposed to re-measure the height of Mount Everest during 2017. The proposal has been drafted for a joint Indo-Nepal exercise considering the various doubts raised by the scientific community after the 2015 earthquake in Nepal.
It is pertinent to mention here that it was in 1855 that India became the first nation with Sir George Everest as surveyor general of India, to have declared the height of Mount Everest and established it as the highest mountain peak in the world. later, India once again carried out the exercise and declared the height of Mount Everest in 1956. After the Gorkha earthquake in Nepal during 2015, various doubts were raised by the scientific community about the 29,035 feet high mountain peak. In response to this, the Survey of India proposed re-measuring the height of Mount Everest as an Indo-Nepal joint scientific exercise involving the survey department of Nepal. The proposal has been forwarded to Nepal through diplomatic channels and the expedition will start after the formal concurrence of Government of Nepal is received, officials stated.
It is worth mentioning here that the Survey of India, the national survey and mapping organisation of the country under the Department of Science and Technology, is the oldest scientific department of the Government of India. It was set up in 1767 and in its assigned role as the nation's principal mapping agency, Survey of India bears the responsibility of ensuring that the nation's domain is explored and mapped suitably while also providing base maps for expeditious and integrated development.