Rafting mission in Ganga to spread message of conservation

Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday launched the 'Ganga Aamantran', an initiative to connect with Ganga's stakeholders.

This is the first ever effort by the National Mission for Clean Ganga to raft across the entire stretch of the river and also the longest ever social campaign undertaken through an adventure sporting activity to spread the message of river rejuvenation and water conservation on a massive scale.

The expedition will draw attention to the ecological challenges being faced by Ganga.

The expedition will encompass the five Ganga basin states including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal with stops at Rishikesh, Haridwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Sonepur and Kolkata.

The 'Ganga Aamantran Abhiyan' is a pioneering open-water rafting and kayaking expedition on the Ganga river to be held between October 10 and November 11. Starting from Devprayag and culminating at Ganga Sagar, the expedition will cover the entire stretch of the Ganga river measuring over 2,500 km.

During the expedition, the team from CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research will take up public awareness campaigns in the locations where they will stop. It will organise mass cleaning drives, interact with students of the village/city and further spread the message of river conservation.

Apart from the awareness campaigns, the team will collect water samples from the diverse ranges of the river for the purpose of testing, while the members of the Wildlife Institute of India will undertake flora and fauna census for the year 2019.

( With inputs from IANS )