Report by Orissadiary correspondent; Paradeep: In order to promote adventure sports and tourism in the state and to make it popular among rural youths and especially girls of the state, four girls embarked on a raft expedition on the Mahanadi River under the guidance of the Orissa Chapter of the National Adventure Foundation.

Four educated girls had embarked on the week-long raft expedition to Paradip along the mighty Mahanadi from Sambalpur last Wednesday under their first Women Mahanadi River Rafting Expedition that culminated in Paradip on Tuesday.

According to the director of National Adventure Foundation, Rabindra Kumar Bhuiyan who led the team, this was the first time in the state where girls also participated.

The purpose of creating such expedition is to promote adventure sports and tourism in the State especially in rural areas and to encourage village girls to come out from the four walls of their houses and explore adventure sports, added Bhuiyan.

They chose Mahanadi River for the expedition as it is the longest river in the state that covers 296 km from Sambalpur to Paradip touching hundreds of riverside villages, he added.

All the four girls are college students: Rosalini Patnaik (28) of Khurda studying LLB, Rosalini Behera (18) a +3 student of AD College in Puri, Rajashree Mohapatra (16) a +2 student of Chandol College in Kendrapada and Sonaphoola Sabar (18) a +3 student of Nuapada College.

According to the girls, they have never seen any adventure sports including rafting in the state where girls have participated.

Since 1997, boys have been always participating in the rafting expedition to Paradip along the Mahanadi from the picturesque Baliput (Satkosia) by covering a distance of 270 km in seven days.

The girls decided to challenge them and proposed their coach for a rafting expedition on the Mahanadi from Sambalpur to Paradip with a deadline to cover a distance of 296 km in seven days. Seeing their enthusiasm, the coach went ahead with the proposal and the rafting expedition started on August 12.

The girls informed that they had to face lot of difficulties during the expedition and especially when three of the crew members fell from the raft at Ghanteswari. However, nothing happened as they were wearing life-saving jackets and our coach was able to rescue them, they added.

We enjoyed each and every moment of the expedition as it was an adventure sports and most of us were first-timers, said Rajashree Mohapatra. The expedition proved the unflagging stamina and determination of the girls, said Bhuiyan. The team reached at Kalapada in Kendrapada on Monday and the expedition culminated at Paradip on Tuesday.