When most of the software engineers would head for a bash in the weekends and free time, two young software engineers went on a mission, pedalling all their way to Kashmir, creating an awareness on “save water, save farmer and go green” concepts.
S. Mohamed Harun Faizal (26), the local lad employed at Wipro technologies and his friend M Vikram (26), employed in KPIT technologies, Bengaluru, launched the cycling on May 1 in Kanniyakumari and returned triumphant, completing their 37-day expedition, covering a whopping 3,468 km.
After launching the expedition on May 1, the ‘deadly duo’ planned to pedal 3,800 km till Leh, the Mecca of adventure enthusiasts but ended up at Bara-lacha, the high mountain pass in Zanskar range on June 6, missing the target by few hundred km, but not without accomplishing their task.
“The whole expedition was aimed at sensitising the people across the country on the need to go green, protect water resources and safeguard the interests of the farmers and we accomplished the task amid challenges and weather vagaries,” said Faizal, sharing the experience after calling on Collector S Natarajan here on Saturday.
Congratulating the two, the collector said it was matter of pride that the youngsters had launched the expedition for a good cause and commended their dedication. He wished them to scale greater heights in their careers and serve the nation.
Faizal was going through the Central water commission’s report, which said the storage capacity of 91 major reservoirs in the country has alarmingly reduced to 23% and the scenario was worst in Tamil Nadu, when he struck with the idea of the expedition.
After their employers gave the green signal, the duo started pedalling, covering about 120 km a day on the north south corridor NH 44 before taking a halt and explaining local people on their mission. Their call to save water received well as the country faced the worst water crisis then, he said.
As they kept updating on this mission in face book, the Arranyan Environmental Organisation (AEO) promoting save water and go green campaign in Nagpur, accorded them a reception at Zero Mile.
If they sweat it out in the Jhansi-Gwalior sector, where the mercury soared over 45 deg C, it was a different ball game after they reached Manali and braved tough terrain, high altitude and freezing cold. “The expedition was tedious and challenging but it was a great experience,” the duo said.
The expedition gave them a sense of fulfilment, they said. If they could not directly interact with more people, they met through social media, they added. They proposed to take up east-west expedition next year to highlight the danger of micro plastics, they said.
