Retd Col, farmer walk 6,500km in 222 days

Prayagraj: A retired Army colonel and a Gujarat farmer have completed the circumambulation of the Ganga, covering more than 6,500 km on foot in 222 days with an aim to make people aware the need to keep the river clean. Speaking at a felicitation ceremony at Qila Ghat on the banks of the river here, RP Pandey, a retired Army colonel, said they did not cross the river even once during their journey.

He said the purpose of their yatra was to make villagers aware of the need to keep the river clean. His companion Hiren Patel said they started their journey from Prayagraj on December 16 last year. Their “padyatra” was flagged off by Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, he said. “When we reached Gangotri on May 16 this year, we had to face the COVID-19 lockdown due to which we stopped the parikrama’ midway and then resumed it from Gangotri on September 22,” he said. He said the most difficult route for them was Gaumukh to Rishikesh.

Pandey said they were helped by religious bodies, soldiers and officers of the Army during the journey. “It is based on membrane technology for on-site production of ultra-pure hydrogen from methanol. It generates hydrogen, which is fed to the fuel cell to generate power (electricity). Further, the produced power can be used for EV charging, and supplying power to mobile towers.” Upadhyay claimed that the device is easy to use and covers a minimum space of 2 m2 (square meter) area. Moreover, it requires only 0.6 lit/ hour of methanol for the production of around 900 lit/ hour of hydrogen.

The government recently launched the National Hydrogen Mission and National Electric Mobility Mission Plan to reduce the carbon footprint and dependency on fossil fuels. “However, it pertains to two major concerns— firstly, charging EVs through clean and green energy and secondly, commercialising hydrogen energy’s storage and transportation. We recently demonstrated this device and produced 1kW power by integrating it with a PEM fuel cell. The team is also developing a self-sustaining device that will not require any external energy for its operation,” Upadhyay detailed. -(PTI)