Armed forces men to swim 2,800 km in Ganga for 'Swachh Bharat'

NEW DELHI: A team of armed forces personnel will undertake a 'record-breaking' expedition to swim a stretch of Ganges river - from Uttarakhand to West Bengal - in an initiative by the Urban Development ministry to spread awareness about the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu today flagged off the Ganga expedition here, which will be headed by Wing Commander and adventure sportsman Paramvir Singh. The team will undertake a swim of 2,800 km along the river.

The personnel will swim the entire length of the Ganga river from Devprayag in Uttarakhand to Gangasagar in Sunderbans (WB) to create awareness about the Swachh Bharat campaign, Naidu said.

The team is comprised of three swimmers and six raft-men who will swim covering roughly 60 km every day and shall halt at places such as Haridwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Ballia, Patna, Kolkata and many other areas as per the route plan.

They will talk to people at these stops, educating them about various Swachh Bharat campaigns and highlighting the importance of health and hygiene.

The team will also inform people about the importance of cleanliness of Ganga river and how it could benefit every community in years to come.