Bhubaneswar: A team of young naturalists, wildlife conservationists, and photographers embarked on an expedition to document and capture the pristine and natural beauty of Odisha’s waterfalls.

Sports & Youth Services & IT Minister Chandra Sarathi Behera flagged off the expedition comprising of a four-member team from Kalinga Stadium here today.

Through this, they wish to spread a message against the littering around waterfalls and to identify and explore the feasibility of introducing responsible ecotourism by discerning tourists which will help put Odisha on the global unregulated tourism.

This expedition will cover 22 districts and 28 waterfalls, most of which are located in protected areas and other rich and biodiverse landscapes that have been getting affected by all the unplanned and unregulated tourism.

A factual and visual database shall be created of this trip, so as to promote the rich heritage of the state globally.

Supported by state Tourism Department, the youth brigade is hopeful of exploring the lesser known and interesting facts about the waterfalls.

Chandra Sarathi Behera said, “I have a lot of expectations from this trip. They are going to discover a lot of new waterfalls too and I am glad youngsters are taking up the responsibility of doing something for our state. People go abroad to explore nature but our own state has plenty of serene and natural beauty."

Durgesh Singh, Udayan Sarathi, Aditya Panda, and Sumanta Lenka, the members of this road trip spoke about their excitement and apprehension. “I am worried about the inclement weather due to low pressure in the Bay of Bengal. This might be a problem but otherwise, we are all very excited and happy”, said Udayan Sarathi, one of the team members.publive-image

Team OST wishes them the best.