Odisha Channel Bureau
Bhubaneswar: After a 1,000 km long bicycle journey from Mumbai to raise awareness against air pollution, fitness icon Milind Soman has reached Delhi where he culminated the ‘Green Ride – Ek Pahal Swachh Hawa Ki Ore’ powered by GAIL (India) Limited.
GAIL Chairman and Managing Director Manoj Jain, Director (Marketing) E S Ranganathan, Director (Finance) R K Jain, Chief Vigilance Officer Shubha Naresh Bhambhani and other senior officials were present on the occasion.
The Green Ride entourage started on December 3, 2021 from Mumbai and passed through Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana before arriving at New Delhi on December 14.
Speaking on the occasion, GAIL CMD Manoj Jain said GAIL was always at the forefront of the fight against air pollution. The company’s social media initiative ‘Hawa Badlo’ which strives to raise awareness against the menace has reached netizens over 100 million times.
“As part of its commitment towards raising awareness for sustainable and environment friendly lifestyle, GAIL partnered with ‘Green Ride – Ek Pehal Swachh Hawa ki Ore’ which is an unique initiative by fitness icon Milind Soman to raise awareness and encourage the people of India to do their bit towards cleaner air,” Jain said.
“Delighted, Grateful & Exhilarated! This sums up my journey on cycle from Mumbai to Delhi. The GREEN RIDE was an effort to explore and promote healthier modes of transportation,” said Soman.
“I hope I was able to create some more awareness about how we are polluting the air we breathe and efforts we all can make to reduce this pollution! Every small step that we take, like opting for a car pool, planting a tree, choosing to cycle rather than take a car, quitting smoking and so many other small ways, plays a huge role in making our environment healthier for us and all life on the planet. Will continue to champion for this cause and other important ones through more such initiatives in the future,” he added.
Soman interacted with media at various points, met environmentalists, rural students and planted saplings on his route to spread awareness on the issue of clean air. He also interacted with GAIL employees at various places and discussed issues of health, fitness and environment with them.
