Bachendri Pal to lead month-long rafting expedition to clean

A 40-member team, including 20 women, will undertake a month-long rafting expedition "Mission Gange" in October, Bachendri Pal, chief of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) has said.

The team would be led by Pal, the first Indian woman to climb the Mount Everest. Twenty-six employees of Tata Steel would be part of the expedition.

The objective of the "Mission Gange" was to clean the river Ganga and spread awareness on waste management, Pal said at a press conference here Thursday.

Pal said the team would move to Haridwar after assembling at Delhi on October 3.

The expedition will start from Haridwar on October 5 and traverse through Bijnor, Farukhabad, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Buxar and end at Patna on October 30, she said. The team will be covering a distance of 1500 km downstream during the expedition.

The members of the team will stay at each destination for 2/3 days, when they will organise cleaning and awareness drives with the help of local support, she said.

The garbage that will be collected from river Ganga during the expedition will be disposed properly with the help of local municipal bodies.

The team will also visit schools and other institutions to create awareness on waste management, pollution in Ganga and climate change, Pal said.

"We have been greatly inspired by our Prime Minister Modi jis 'Namami Gange' campaign for cleaning the Ganga, a truly life-sustaining source of our country," she claimed.

Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Arjun Ram Meghwal will join the team at Haridwar to boost the morale of the team, she added.

The expedition was being supported by the Government of India and Tata Steel, Pal said.

The team would have eight Everesters - R S Pal, Binita Soren, Chetna Sahoo, Poonam Rana and Swarnlata Dalai, Hemant Gupta, Premlata Agartwal, Bachendri Pal - , five IIT graduates and a radio jockey representing various parts of the country will be part of the team, she added.