Enthusiasts attend adventure camp in Maoist-hit Purulia

Enthusiasts participated in the first orienteering camp in the Maoist-hit Ayodhya hill area of West Bengal's Purulia District recently.

The camp was organised by the West Bengal Mountaineering and Adventure Sports Foundation, under the Youth Services Department of the West Bengal Government.

Participants used their navigation skills, maps and compasses to race on foot.

Former Joint Director of National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) and Coordinator of the orienteering camp, Tridib Basu, said: "Due to the insecurity in this area over the last few years, we were not able to come here. We waited for a long time, and, when we finally got the chance, we came here all prepared. We are all working here and carrying on with this orienteering camp fearlessly."

Basu further revealed that they had 40 instructors and 40 campers.

Basu also said that since this camp was the first of its kind, the instructors and participants were trained well in advance.

Undeterred with the fear of meeting Maoists enroute, the participants raced against time with backpacks on their shoulders, picking clues on the way to reach the destination with the help of maps and compass to reach the destination.

"So, we are doing orienteering through adventure. Now, since it is adventure, the main thing for our group is that we will be going outside the campus of our camp and will be staying outside at night, so there will be several activities, like they will make their own shelters with plastic,etc., and they will cook, selfcooking, so they have to make fire, etc. Now these things are important, but the most important part is orienteering that they have to find some clues through which they will reach that point," Pooja, a participant said.

The camp instructor stated that the uniqueness of the camp is that there are no restrictions. People of all age groups from eight to 60 years can participate. This camp provides trekking, rock climbing and navigation skill tests.

Such camps could boost tourism here and well be an inspiration to other people to participate in such camps set up in feared areas.

The Maoists, who say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and landless, control some of India's mineral-rich areas and operate in large swathes of the eastern, central and southern countryside.

Also known as Naxals, they have killed police and politicians, and targeted government buildings and railway tracks in an insurgency that has killed thousands since the 1960s.

The rebels are estimated to number 7,000 hardcore fighters in nearly a third of India's 630 districts.