Coimbatore-based Meenakshi Arvind (45), Mookambika Rathinam (38), and Priya Rajpal (55) of Mumbai commenced their 70-day-long road trip from Coimbatore to London on Sunday.
The trip, ‘XPD 2470’, was flagged off by Minister for Municipal Administration S.P. Velumani at SNR Grounds. The expedition will cover 24,000 km while passing through 24 countries.
Though a fourth woman Ruckmani Sekhar had to cancel the trip due to health reasons in the last hour, Ms. Arvind’s daughter 20-year-old Vedhika Arvind, who is on a vacation from the United States, has joined the team.
An initiative by Rotary India Literacy Mission to promote literacy, the trip also commemorates 70 years of Indian Independence.
The team members are expected to the hoist national flag on their arrival at the Indian High Commission in London on June 5.
Amidst cheers and wishes by the crowd, including friends and family members, the team left SNR Grounds after taking a round around the hoisted national flag. Around 24 superbike riders accompanied the team till Perundurai.
Ms. Meenakshi, who leads the team, had recently completed a road trip to Thailand. All the three women have driving experience in foreign countries.
“All the team members have international driver’s licence and visas for the expedition. Team members had practice session with the new SUV, Tata Hexa, in Pune where we also underwent mechanic’s training to handle emergencies. We will drive only during day and team will have to halt in some places for a day or two during the expedition,” said Ms. Rajpal, adding that XPD 2470 is the longest trip for everyone in the team.
On arrival in Manipur capital Imphal, last leg of the trip in India will be flagged off by Governor Najma Heptulla.
The expedition will cover Myanmar, China, Kyrgzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Austria, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, before reaching London.
On completion, the team will fly back to India while the SUV will be shipped and returned to sponsor Tata Motors Limited. Organisers said that the total cost of the trip is around ₹ 60 lakh.
Guides will accompany the team in Myanmar, China and Kyrgyzstan. The SUV also has additional space to store fuel as diesel is sold in black in Uzbekistan where vehicles run on liquefied gas, methane and propane.
Achiever award
P.R. Krishnakumar Varier, Chancellor of Avinashilingam University, presented women achiever award to Rajshree Pathy of Rajshree Sugars and Chemicals Limited at the flag off function.
The trip is supported by Rotary Club of Coimbatore Texcity and Rotary Aakruthy in association with Sri Ramakrishna Group of Institutions.
The Hindu is the media partner for the event. The team will update the details of the expedition on its Facebook page ‘XPD2470’.
