Thiruvananthapuram: On a cycle mission to protect rivers

Thiruvananthapuram: Cyclist Samrat Kousik, 43, hailing from Kolkata is on a quest to raise awareness on river conservation through his solo expeditions. He reached the state capital on Friday after pedalling a distance of 5,300 km from Leh to Kerala covering around 119 rivers as part of his expeditions. “I wish to go to Sri Lanka from here if I get the visa,” says Kousik, who gave up his 18-year-long corporate career to take up the campaign to ‘conserve water and save rivers’.

“The condition of the rivers in the country is pathetic. During my growing years, I used to hear about the pollution happening to river Ganga. Now my 7-year-old-daughter is hearing the same stories and I wanted to do my bit. I did a pre-monsoon expedition covering 3,000 km from Uttarakhand to Bangladesh earlier in 2018. I took launched this expedition from Leh to Kerala on November 8, 2018,” Kousik says.  

“People should have more connection to the rivers and realise how important it is to protect them. Sand mining is a major issue and our very system is allowing them to destroy our rivers,” laments Kousik, who is planning another expedition covering 10 South Asian countries.

“We used to receive people by offering a glass of clean drinking water. Now we don’t have that luxury. We are paying Rs 20 for one litre of clean drinking water.  These corporate manufacturers are not taking any responsibility for the large quantity of plastic waste generated daily which is ending up in our rivers and oceans,” Kousik adds.