India's first woman to Mount Everest, Bachendri Pal to lead 'Mission Gange' expedition

India's first woman to scale Mount Everest and chief of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TASF) Bachendri Pal will lead a 40-member squad on a 1500-km, 27-day 'Mission Gange' rafting expedition along the river Ganga from October 5 to 30.

The ambitious mission in partnership with National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is aimed at creating awareness at the grassroots level by cleaning the river and riverfronts and educating people about waste management, clean environment and climate change.

The team will start its expedition on October 5 from Haridwar traversing through Bijnor, Farukkhabad, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Buxar and end with a drive in Patna. The expedition team will organise cleaning and awareness drives with the help of local communities, visit schools and other institutions to create awareness around waste management, climate change and Government of India's 'Mission Clean Ganga' (Namami Gange).

NMCG will provide support for waste disposal, accommodation, volunteers, coordination with local authorities, NGOs and schools at various locations.

"Our expedition is inspired by the Government of India's Namami Gange mission, which has been a very important step towards cleaning the Ganges that has been a life-supporting river for millions in our country," said Pal.

"The aim of our expedition is to reach out to as many people as possible, heighten the awareness around keeping this great river clean and make a movement out of the Mission that had started four years ago," added the Padma Shri and Arjuna awardee.

TSAF has brought together a diverse and industrious team of 40 individuals (20 women and 20 men) comprising eight mountaineers (Bachendri Pal, Premlata Agarwal, Hemant Gupta, R S Pal, Chetna Sahoo, Binita Soren, Poonam Rana, Swarnlata Dalai) who have summited Mt. Everest, 26 Tata Steel employees, 5 engineers from Indian Institute of Technology, one radio jockey and management graduates.

(With inputs from agencies.)