SAMBALPUR: With an aim to keep river Mahanadi clean and pollution-free, a mini swimming marathon in the river was organised on Sunday.
The first ever event conducted by Odisha Masters Swimmers’ Club under the theme of ‘Clean Mahanadi and Green Sambalpur’ saw participation of 46 swimmers from different parts of the State. The 3-km marathon started from Palton Ghat at Badbazaar and concluded at Marwadipada Ghat.
Swimmers from Sambalpur, Sonepur Bargarh, Khurda, Puri, Rayagada, Keonjhar, Jharsuguda, Boudh and Nuapada participated and 26 of them managed to reach the end point.
Niharika Patel of Sambalpur was the champion in women category and also the lone swimmer to have completed the distance in the category. Men’s title was bagged by Bikas Haripal of Sambalpur. An eight-year-old boy, Saswat Swarup Mirdha of Sambalpur, who was the unofficial entry, stole the show by completing the entire distance.
It was a rare sight as people stood on the banks of the river along the Ring Road to cheer the participants.
Sambalpur SP Akhilesvar Singh distributed prizes among the winners.
Working president of Odisha Masters Swimmers’ Club, Pradip Padhee, said the objective of the marathon
is to make people aware about their responsibility towards keeping the river clean.