India@75 BRO motorcycle expedition completes 5th leg and reaches Thiruvananthapuram

The expedition was flagged-offfrom New Delhi by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh on October 14, 2021.

India@75 BRO motorcycle expedition has successful completed the 5thleg covering 3,500 kilometres in less than 10 days and reached Thiruvananthapuram on December 07, 2021. The expedition team traversed through Kolkata, Utkal plains of Odisha and Coromandel Coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the 5thleg. Major destinations touched were Bhubaneshwar, Vishakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Chennai, Madurai, Rameswaram, Tuticorin, Kanyakumari and finally the leg culminated at Thiruvananthapuram.

The expedition was flagged-off from New Delhi by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh on October 14, 2021. It aimed to cover the perimeter of the country covering 20,000 kilometers in 75 Days by riding motorcycles by 75 of its karmyog is in its seven legs. Since its flag-off, it has traversed more than 14,300 kilometres in 55 days. The team in its first leg traversed touching high-altitude areas at 15,000 feet and snow-bound areas in Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir culminating at Srinagar. In the second leg, the team travelled through the plains of Punjab, hills of Uttarakhand and the Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar & West Bengal and completed the leg at Siliguri. In the leg three, it touched important Northeast Cities and Landmarks of Nathu La, Gangtok, Kalimpong, Hashimara, Guwahati, Tezpur, Itanagar, Pasighat and finally reached Doom Dooma. The leg four of saw the team passing through almost all North-Eastern States touching Jorhat, Dimapur, Imphal, Silchar, Aizawl, Shillong, Alipurduar, Malda and culminated in Kolkata.

The Leg 5 by far was the longest stretch in terms of distance that the team covered in a single leg, as they traversed 3,500 kilometres along the Eastern coastal states, covering approximately 500 kilometres each day without a break. The team exploited every single opportunity they got during the hectic leg to establish a connect with the masses by conducting various public outreach programmes and Road Safety Quizzes at Bhubaneshwar, Gopalpur, Vishakhapatnam, Vijayawada and at the longest and busiest beach of the country, Marina beach, Chennai, and Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari by stimulating and spreading message of road safety awareness among masses.

The team at Vishakhapatnam, Tiruchirappalli, and Kanyakumari connected with young and inquisitive school children & college students sharing their experiences with them and motivated them to contribute to National building. The team also visited the Prestigious Officers Training Academy, Chennai and were thrilled to witness the Academy War Memorial and Museum. The team visited ancient temples at Tiruchirappalli, Thiruparankundram temple & Meenakshi Sundar Eshwar in Madurai and Rameswaram temple and Late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam ancestral house and memorial by paying obeisance and they also interacted with locals.

The journey has created unforgettable memories, lifelong bonds among the team members, generated keen interest among the masses and most importantly stimulated road safety awareness among the citizens. The expedition will now move to Gandhinagar, its next destination on Dec 16, 2021. The team will be flagged-in in New Delhi on December 27, 2021 by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Ajay Bhatt coinciding with Annual Chief Engineers'and Equipment Management Conference of BRO.

(With Inputs from PIB)