‘Tour-de-Kalinga’ Flagged Off By Odisha Sports Minister

Bhubaneswar: ‘Tour de Kalinga’, considered Asia’s longest community cycling campaign, began from Odisha capital on Sunday.

Sports and Youth Services Minister Tusharkanti Behera flagged off the 4th edition of ‘Tour-de-Kalinga’ at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

In an attempt to provide solutions to bring rapid development in the state, Roots of Odisha Foundation (ROOF) has been organising the community cycling campaign since 2015.

While flagging of this mega campaign on ‘Save Environment, Global Warming and Drug abuse,’ the Minister congratulated the cycling team and said Odisha has great landscape for eco tourism.

Chairman of ROOF Sudhir Kumar Dash said with political stability in the state, Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik has done magnificent transformation in building sports infrastructure.

While unveiling the theme of ‘Tour-de-Kalinga’, Dash said Odisha has a unique landscape that is found nowhere else in the planet. The golden triangle, Chillika lagoon, eastern ghats and thick forests with aquatic and wildlife are ideal destinations for eco-tourism.

According to the organisers, Tour de Kalinga is being held between Bhubaneswar and Koraput this time. The participants will pass through 10 districts and cover a distance of about 1,300 km. They will complete the campaign in 13 days and return to Bhubaneswar.

On the first day, the team is visiting Puri via Konark en route to Pipili and Raghurajpur.

The organisers have planned community engagement programmes in schools, colleges, universities, and villages to sensitise people on larger issues like pollution, global warming, and drug abuse.

Another objective of Tour de Kalinga is to create a pedalling corridor in the Odisha landscape to boost ecotourism, and local employment and to uplift the economic condition of the state.