Bhubaneswar, June 6: A group of young adventure lovers from the state embarked on an expedition to the 6,221-metre Mount Indrasan in Himachal Pradesh last week aiming to undertake a cleanliness drive and promote a clean environment.

The expedition is being led by mountaineer Jogabyasa Bhoi. The mountaineering team aims to reach the summit in a month's time. All the climbers in the group are below 25 years of age except Bhoi, with 17-year-old Animesh Sahoo being the youngest.

"We are hopeful of achieving the target on time but one can't be sure of anything during expeditions. With monsoon on the way, storms will make our task difficult. Snowfall is also a hurdle," said Bhoi.

Bhoi and his team will leave from Delhi on June 9 for the Manali base camp and climb up to Chika valley and beyond. The aim of the expedition is to conduct a cleanliness drive during the journey and promote a clean environment.

To keep themselves in shape, the team members exercised rigorously and went for expeditions to a number of mountains in Odisha.

"We are going to face a number of challenges such as frequent changes in weather conditions and paucity of oxygen. That is why it was imperative that the team members got accustomed to the challenges," said 37-year-old Bhoi.

The journey was flagged off on Friday by culture and tourism minister Ashok Panda, who assured the team of all the necessary support during the journey.

"The state is making concerted efforts to promote adventure sports. We are also trying to make trekking a part of tourism," said Panda.

Bhoi has been conducting such expeditions on a regular basis. Recently, he conducted expeditions to Bhrigu and Sandakphu along with young climbers from across the state.

Bhoi's next destination is Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica. "I will leave for that journey in December. It will be difficult and I need to make preparations," said the climber.