The Biggest Walkathon of India for Clean Ganga- The Atulya Ganga Project
A group of Indian Army veterans has taken an initiative, named ‘Atulya Ganga’, to create a remarkable history in adventure with a noble purpose of rejuvenating our holy Ganges to its pristine glory, with a slogan ‘Stop dumping waste in Ganga’.
Atulya Ganga team is planning to do ‘Mundaman Ganga Parikrama’, circumnavigation of the river. In this Parikrama, one walks along the bank of the river starting from Gomukh to Gangasagar where the river merges into the sea, goes to the other side of the Ganges and treks back to Gomukh. The river can be crossed only at Gomukh and Gangasagar. The pedestrian has to stay within a distance of 12.8 kms from the bank and must have sighting of river at least once in 24 hours. There is no record of any successful Mundaman Ganga Parikrama till date.
Route: Mundaman Ganga Parikrama
When Dream Wanderlust spoke with one of the founders of Atulya Ganga, Gallantry award winner Lt. Col. Hem Lohumi SM about the genesis of this venture, he said, “One of my climbing partners, Gopal Sharma, who is also one of the founders, met a hermit named Gopal Baba in 1986. Gopal Baba wanted to do Mundaman Ganga Parikrama. Mountaineer Gopal Sharma assisted Gopal Baba in negotiating route from Gomukh to Haridwar as there is no specific trail amid mountains. But unfortunately, Gopal Baba could not complete the parikrama as he fell into the hands of some goons in Bihar and got beaten up. When he regained consciousness, he found himself dumped on the other bank of the river. The rule of the parikrama got broken. So, we decided to do Mundaman Parikrama of the Ganges to complete that incomplete journey. We met with Gopal Baba and he said it would be great if we can do it.”
The team is trying to make this adventurous journey more meaningful by incorporating social cause into it, with the mission of saving the Ganges. In India, 40% of the population depends on Ganga and today it is one the most polluted rivers in the world. During the parikrama, the team will geo tag all the sources of pollution in the river and will measure pollution at critical points. Atulya Ganga wants to continue this parikrama for eleven years (2020-2030). Pollution data will be recorded for YoY data analysis and will be available real time on dashboard. IIT Delhi, ISRO, Google Maps and IT companies have joined hands to develop a Ganga Health Dashboard to keep a track of pollution level in river. The team is also aiming to organise more than 200 public meetings and two lakhs school visits along their way to create mass awareness across 45 cities, 500 panchayats. A few months back, an online drawing competition was organised on Ganga for school students. Atulya Ganga wants students to participate in relay walking also. They are looking for volunteers who can become ‘Praharis’ (Protectors) of Ganga. Lt. Col. Hem Lohumi, the leader of the parikrama team, sketched the mission of the organisation saying, “Atulya Ganga rests on three pillars, first one on adventure, nobody has walked 5000kms circumnavigating the river; second on developing real time pollution index mapping and third on involving people to create mass awareness. Atulya Ganga is A-Political, A-Religious mass movement. This is neither a commercial venture nor a luxurious travel. Anyone can join us, walk with us and can become Prahari, if people feel what we are doing is noble.”
On this parikrama, Atulya Ganga team will walk with a baton, crafted by Steel and Petroleum Ministry. The baton will be presented to the team by honourable Prime Minister of India. Replicas will be given to the walkers along with a certificate.
During a conversation with Dream Wanderlust, celebrated mountaineer Anindya Mukherjee who is shouldering the responsibility of West Bengal State Coordinator for Atulya Ganga talked about his role in this massive endeavour: “I am working on the route through which the team will pass in West Bengal to reach Gangasagar and will return after crossing the bank at Gangasagar. I am preparing their detailed itinerary of Bengal, co-ordinating with local schools and clubs to involve them in this mission. I am doing all the arrangements for the Atulya Ganga team in West Bengal. I am trying to build up a team of district co-ordinators with whom we can work and make all required arrangements in proper synchronization.” Recently, Mr. Niloy Chakraborty too has joined Atulya Ganga as West Bengal State Co-ordinator.
Atulya Ganga is also associating with Central Government and State Governments as they have already given presentation to National Mission for Clean Ganga and have been assured of co-operation from them. Team is going to make presentation before Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Chief Ministers of concerned states soon. On the other hand, Indian Tibetan Border Police has also showed their support for Atulya Ganga and will take part in the relay walking.
The team will start journey on 25th November 2020 from Rishikesh and will complete the journey on 14th July 2021 in Rishikesh. The transcontinental bike journey program from India Gate, Delhi to London has been shelved this year, due to Covid-19 pandemic situation.
This news was revised on 27-10-2020
