‘Atulya Ganga Parikrama’ concludes in Prayagraj
PRAYAGRAJ: The 5530-km-long ‘Atulya Ganga Parikrama 2020-21’, spanning 190-days culminated here on Wednesday. A team of Atulya Ganga, an organisation formed by Army veterans and civil volunteers, conducted a ‘hawan’ to mark the successful completion of the yatra at Samudra Koop, Jhunsi.
Earlier, the team of Atulya Ganga undertook a 7km walk from Phaphamau to Samudra Koop in Jhunsi, marking the last leg of the journey. The Parikrama had commenced from Prayagraj on December 16, 2020.
On Thursday, a formal function to mark the end of the ‘Atulya Ganga Parikrama 2020-21’ (Prayagraj-Gangasagar-Gangotri-Prayagraj) would be held at the Circuit House where the team members would share the ‘The Parikrama Story’ followed by a brief felicitation ceremony for the walkers.
One of the organising members of the yatra, Abhay Mishra said that ‘Atulya Ganga’ was envisaged to be a massive mass movement with youth participation. This was to be an endeavour for 11 years (2020-2030) with its main pillars being ‘Ganga Parikrama’ or Walkathon, pollution mapping, tree plantation drives and youth mobilization.
“This was the biggest ever Indian walk for the cause of vanishing Indian rivers. On the walk, a dedicated team geotagged, measured and recorded every source of pollutant discharged into the Ganga. As part of Vrikshmaal Drive’, thousands of trees like Bargad, Neem and Peepal were also planted by ‘Atulya Ganga’ team in the flood plains as part of this initiative. The team planted over 30,000 trees with tree-mentor,” explained Mishra.