Author: Vinay Chelwani

We were all excited, this was the moment we were waiting for, from the day we heard about this 1500 kilometers long rafting expedition in the river Ganga from Haridwar till Patna.

We all were ready at 8 in the morning for the big journey with all gears and preparation done. The sparking river was calling us for a ride with some rapids adding to the thrill. The team of mountaineers and adventure enthusiasts were ready to conquer river Ganga after successfully climbing the Everest.

With some teamwork and coordination we were paddling our way to Bijnor. The journey was not smooth though, the shallow waters and heat from the sun, tried to slow us down but the strong arms worked tirelessly, paddling and pushing the raft forward.

5 hours of continuous rafting made us hungry and we decided to take a halt at some place between the two cities which was clean, green and peaceful, perfectly suited for a Maggi party.

The two-minutes noodle worked it’s magic, yet again and we were again charged up to reach our destination. People cheering us at the banks of river Ganga at different villages when were crossing during the journey made us realize that we must have been doing something right.

Sun was setting with cool breeze running through our faces, we are not to far from Bijnor, said a farmer. Oops, their is a technical fault at one of the rafts, we need to go slow,

It’s dark now, we can still see the skyline of Bijnor on one side and at the other side, a piece of land surrounded by water and some huts.

The adventurous minds in the team realized that it’s a perfect set for camping. We all must have thought of something like this happening but on the first day was a big surprise.

The cold weather and wet clothes called for a campfire under the sky full of stars. Our team of exuberants were happy to be a part of this camp night leaving all the luxuries of a comfy bed and gourmet dinner back at the hotel. It’s was a perfect time to celebrate the successful Haridwar chapter and first day of rafting.

The warmth of fire which showed just the faces telling stories and soft music playing at the background is the memory that we are taking from this night. Lack of food, cold weather and two huts for 40 people to accommodate gave us a real taste of this expedition.

I blinked and hear someone saying, tea is ready please wake up…

Each one of us, directly or indirectly have been polluting the environment from ages. Now, the nature has started showing its wrath in the form of global warming, climate change, dying aquatic animals  and many more.

So, what do we do? & Where to start?

We can start with the smaller things like not throwing garbage at public places to spreading awareness among others to conducting cleaning drives.

The awe-inspiring leadership of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) has gathered a team from various backgrounds to embark on this mission of a clean India through cleaning the river Ganga which was one of the cleanest rivers once is now one of the most polluted rivers in the world.

Here, are the 5 things that you need to know about #missiongange

1. Expedition with a social cause-

Mission Gange is a month-long expedition where a team of 40 self-believing individuals will traverse along the river with the help of rafts and visit 7 different cities on the way. The aim of this expedition is to spread awareness among the locals through cleaning river and river fronts and educating people about waste management.

2. Traversing 7 different cities along the river-

The journey will start from the city of temples Haridwar and sail down the river through the cities like Bijnor-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi-Buxar and end at Patna, Bihar. The core team will visit each city for 3 days where various sub groups within the team will perform cleaning and awareness drives with the help of supporters.

3. Cleaning, awareness and waste management-

A pre-decided plan of activities will be executed during 3 days in each city with an aim to involve as many locals. The team will be visiting schools and institutes for the promotional as well as awareness related activities. The activities will include deliberations on waste management with the theme of recycle-reuse-reduce.

4. Leadership that makes us feel proud-

The expedition will be led by a team of achievers including legendary mountaineer Bachendri Pal (1^st Indian women to climb Mt Everest, Padma shri and Arjuna award winner), Premlata Agarwal (1st Indian woman to scale the Seven Summits, Padma shri and Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award winner) and many more with a diverse range of skillsets.

The expedition is well supported by the leadership of Tata Steel, India.

5. What do we need from you?

The only thing that we need is support, anything to everything that can help fulfilling the purpose of this mission. Although, we would like as many people to join us for cleaning drives and spreading awareness at different cities that we are visiting but simple things like reducing use of plastic or spreading awareness among the people around you would serve the purpose as well.

If you want to join us in any of the mentioned cities, it’s wonderful. So, let us know through any of our social media pages or mail us and join the team #missiongange.

If you like this blog post then please like, share and Follow the social media pages to stay updated on the schedule and join them in your city.

Help #MissionGange team in keeping our surroundings clean!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/missiongange
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missiongange

Mail: missiongange@gmail.com

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton