Seven kayakers from the district on Wednesday took part in the Chaliyar Expedition organised by the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) as a harbinger to the four-day Malabar River Festival to begin at Thusharagiri in the district on Thursday.
Superintendent of Police (vigilance) C.T. Tom flagged off the expedition at Cheprangodu near Thiruvambady.
All the seven of the kayaking team led by Kaushiq Kodithodi were members of the Kozhikode-based water sport academy Jelly Fish, which was one of the partners of the event. Rayn Kodithodi, a 10-year-old boy and the youngest of the lot, Mujeeb Chemmenkkat, Najeeb Rahman, Ashokan, Faijaz Moorkanad and Mithulaj formed the expedition team.
The voyage started from Thiruvambady around 9 a.m. ended in the estuary area at Beypore around 6 p.m. in the evening after covering around 45 kilometres.
Experience
The experience was extremely thrilling and exploratory, said Mr. Kaushiq, who is also giving kayaking training to youngsters in Chaliyar River. “I wish our entire youngsters had an opportunity to have this experience, only then will they know how beautiful our rivers are,” he said.
Besides sensitising people against rampant pollutions taking place in various parts of the river, the expedition was also meant to explore the possibilities of using the Chaliyar for water-tourism activities, said DTPC secretary P.G. Rajeev.
