Doon based student activist group, Making a Difference by Being the Difference (MAD) was joined by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat as the student group celebrated the inauguration of the six day Madathon Festival- the annual feature held on its foundation day to generate awareness to rejuvenate drying streams of Doon Valley.
Beating all previous records over 8000 runners turned up for this event. The Chief Minister flagged or participants from Parade Ground on a 10.3 kilometre run which was also marked by the use of steel glasses only in all the water filling stations along the route of the run. With its declared agenda to celebrate the Madathon Festival as a zero waste event, the organisation took special care to ensure that not even a single plastic flex is printed for the event. All promotional material was prepared on canvas cloth and chart papers and some others using scrap and waste material. This approach was coupled by a conscious decision to completely shun plastic. Around seven stop points were kept on the route and adequate arrangements of steel glasses had been made to completely shun the use of plastic bottles and to drive home the message of environmental conservation by actual example.
At Parade Ground to flag off the run, the Chief Minister also appreciated the cloth banners that had been made propagating the message of saving the dying streams of Doon Valley. He also complimented MAD on the efforts to use Kulhads for such a major large scale gathering.
Before the flag off, Rawat credited MAD for public optimism, especially in the youth, to initiate public spirited campaigns for environmental conservation and especially for the rejuvenation of rivers. Singling out the group for praise in the civil society efforts to rejuvenate the Rispana river, the CM urged youngsters to actually imbibe the message of environmental conservation that the race sought to disseminate.
When the race concluded, MAD members distributed refreshments that had been prepared by members themselves. The members also ensured that after the event the Parade Ground was left in a clean condition.
At the end of the race, the winner of this eco-friendly endeavor in the male category was Mukesh Rawat with Rajesh and Pravendra Singh in the second and third positions respectively. The winner in the female category was Renu followed by Arpita Saini and Shobha Rana in the second the third positions respectively. Members of the group hope that after a successful start more and more Doonites would turn up for the other events of Madathon 2018 which include a cultural evening at Doon School, an art and photography exhibition at World Integrity Centre among several others. Group president Abhijay Negi, Karan Kapoor and other volunteers were also present on the occasion.