WANI members Ashwini Pawar (from left), Vimla Negi Deoskar, Bachendri Pal, Premlata Agarwal, Bharti Gomase and Neela Sapre in front of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation office in Bistupur on Monday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Ganga is not just a river, millions see her as a mother. Surely it is befitting that women roll up their sleeves to join the Clean Ganga mission.

India’s first Everester Bachendri Pal, who heads Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) in Jamshedpur and is also the president of the Women Adventure Network of India (WANI) with members across India, said both outfits were teaming up to clean the mighty Ganga in 2015.

On Tuesday, in an exclusive chat with The Telegraph, Bachendri confirmed their plans.

“We are looking at a team of over 50 women for this expedition from Haridwar to Howrah,” she said.

The Ganga basin from Haridwar and Howrah sees individuals and industries polluting the river in equal measure. The river flows, carrying everything from floating decaying corpses to chemical effluents stoically.

Though the mission to clean and save the Ganga started in the mid-1980s, it hasn’t achieved desired results because of the enormity and complexity of the task. This year, after coming to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his pledge to get the mission gain speed.

Given that the clean-up is a giant task, how would the women manage?

“We are looking at a multi-pronged venture. Some women will be rafting and others will be part of the garbage disposal team. When rafters spot pollutants on a stretch of the river, they will coordinate with the garbage disposal team, who will liaise with local NGOs and municipal agents of the area. What we are looking at is actual work,” Bachendri said.

The Everester added that they had held a meeting on Monday evening for over two hours at her chamber with piping hot tea for company to discuss modalities.

“Women who attended the meeting were (Everester) Premlata Agarwal from Jamshedpur, Nagpur’s Vimla Negi Deoskar, Bharti Gomase and Neela Sapre and Ashwini Pawar from Durgapur,” Bachendri said.

How confident is Bachendri of her team accomplishing something worthwhile?

“Sure, it’s a Herculean task. But, we will do what we can as citizens and adventure buffs. We discussed the volume of work and logistics involved. Everyone is excited,” Bachendri said.

“And yes, coordination among team members as well as with other stakeholders and agencies along the way will be of paramount importance,” she added.

WANI joint secretary and Everester Deoskar added that climbing was all about cleanliness.

“While climbing, we learn lessons to keep our natural resources clean. Climbers are required to bring back every piece of garbage from Everest or any such expedition, even if it is a chocolate wrapper or a potato wafers packet. So, we are bringing the same dedication to our clean Ganga project,” she said. For starters, they will conduct a survey of polluted places along the river’s stretch. “We will collect data from the government and agencies to plan the nitty-gritty of our mission,” she said.

Sapre, another veteran climber, said WANI members were no strangers to long and arduous journeys. “We have conducted Go Green Girls cycling expeditions that involved 2,500km of pedalling from Calcutta to Kanyakumari in 2012 and 3,500km from Kutch to Kochi in 2014, but cleaning the Ganga will be a whole new league altogether,” she smiled.

What is your message to this spunky all-women’s team of doers and dreamers? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com