Along with her 30-member team, Bachendri Pal, the Indian mountaineer who in 1984 became the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, reached. Haridwar on Friday. Soon after her arrival, she set on her Swachh Ganga and Swachh Bharat campaign from the Ganga ghats in the holy city. The team members of ‘Mission Gange’ comprising mountaineers, environmentalists, scientists and IIT Engineers would remain engaged in the drive for three days in Haridwar.
Notably, they had met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday in Delhi.
The team launched the cleanliness drive from Rodi Belwala area in Haridwar at 9 am on the day. The State Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik was also present there during the time and performed symbolic cleaning while holding a broom in his hands. The Mission Gange participants said that they would go along a long stretch of Ganga while spreading awareness about the imperative of keeping the holy river clean.
Bachendri, who was born in a small village near Uttarakashi on May 24, 1954, said while speaking to The Pioneer, “Seven mountaineers who summated the Mount Everest have come forward in support of the campaign National Mission for Clean Ganga.
Covering 1500 kms on raft along the stretch of Ganga, the campaign would end in Patna on October 30. Through Chaupal Samwad, the people living in the villages would be made aware of the need of keeping Ganga clean.
Besides, the students of schools and colleges would be involved in the drive. Big awareness programmes would be organised in Bijnor, Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi and some others cities located along the stretch.”
Later in the day, Padma Shri Bachendri Pal visited Shantikunj and met the pro vice-chancellor of Dev Sanskrirti Vishwavidyalaya professor Chinmaya Pandya.
Addressing the students at Gayatri Vidyapeeth, Pal said that family background mattered little if one was strongly resolved to do something. “For instance, I encountered daunting challenges in course of my journey from a small village to planting the Indian flag atop the Mount Everest. The poverty I faced paled into insignificance before the strength of my dreams. Since the time I got associated with Tata Steel I have encouraged many to dream big and realise it while taking the obstacles coming the way in their stride,” she said.
Dwelling on the importance of keeping Ganga clean, she said that it must be a collective responsibility of the nation. “Ganga is the soul of our civilisation,” she added.
