ECO – TREK

The Eco-Trek was a unique initiative organized by Harmoney, the Finance Club from the School of Business & Management (MBA), and the Centre for Social Action (CSA) in celebration of Environment Day. It was designed to combine adventure, education, and environmental consciousness. Participants embarked on a trek in the picturesque town of Lavasa, starting at 5:00 am on Sunday, 4th June 2023. Before the commencement of the trek, participants were required to register and provide relevant information. A pre-event briefing session was conducted to familiarize participants with the trekking route, safety procedures, and expected weather conditions. During the trek, the students/participants were actively engaging in cleaning the surroundings, emphasizing the importance of environmental conservation.

The primary objectives of the event ‘Eco-Trek’ were as follows:

• Encourage team building and collaboration among participants.
• Promote physical fitness and well-being.
• Create an opportunity for participants to connect with nature and develop an appreciation for the environment.
• Provide a platform for participants to learn outdoor survival skills and develop resilience.
• Foster a sense of adventure and exploration.
• Awareness of wildlife conservation.

Dr. Maaz Hasan Khan, Dr. Danish Hussain, and Dr. Shrutika Mishra were the faculty coordinators and the student coordinators for the event were Anirudh Menon and Aditya Srivastava. Prof., Tanya Sharma and Dr. Resham Lohani also enthusiastically joined our trek. We started out the trekking journey at 5:00 am on Sunday, 4th June 2023 from Christ (Deemed to be) University, Lavasa, Pune which was our assembly point with 29 participants, and reached Ekanth the Retreat Hotel, from where we started our trek. We carried all the necessary supplies like first aid kit, water bottles, biscuits, gloves and garbage bags for collecting the wastes and litters. The trek was full of green lush areas with an abundance of flora and Dr. Maaz Khan was sharing information about the different plants with the students which were quite interesting and increased our knowledge.

The route of trekking was comfortable and easily coverable in some phases of the trek and tough in other phases which required special care and attention. During the trekking, we came across various viewpoints which were mesmerising and soothing for the eyes. What made the trek even more enjoyable and fun was the good weather climate and the breeze in the air which was so soothing. From those viewpoints, we were able to have an ariel view of our campus, the mountains and the entire Lavasa valley. The view sight was even more beautiful and stunning from up there. During the trek we also came across many porcupine quills lying around. We also came across a village during our trek and walking through the village we saw the pleasant face of the locals carrying on with their chores.

All the participants showed team work and helped each other to cross the difficult portion of the trek along with good communication for commutating right way of the trek. All the participants were provided refreshments like water and biscuits during the trek. The trek ended after 3 hours at Lavasa entry gate where all the participants gathered and rested for some time, had our snacks and breakfast. After that we started to walk back on our trek to the starting point, i.e., Ekanth the Retreat Hotel. But before that importantly we started with cleaning the surroundings of the area during our trek, which was one of the main objectives of this Eco – Trek to create awareness and to develop a sense of environment conservation in the minds of the participants. We first stopped by the village and started with picking up the wastes and litters lying around. The locals of the village also watched us closely and we were able to communicate to them on maintaining cleanliness, thereby creating an awareness in the village. After this on the way back to the starting point we stopped in between places in the trekking routes, the forests where there were many wastes and litters thrown and lying around. We started picking them up making sure the beauty of the trekking path and the nature was intact and looking beautiful. Finally, after this we reached the starting point, Ekanth and from there we dispersed and the garbage bags also were properly disposed. We were able to take home many beautiful memories from the trek.

The outcome of the event ‘Eco-Trek’ were as follows:

• Team building and collaboration among participants.
• Physical fitness and well-being.
• Connected with nature and developed an appreciation for the environment.
• The participants, that is the students got a platform to learn outdoor survival skills and develop resilience.
• Adventurous experience and exploration.
• Awareness of wildlife conservation.
• Learning and Creating Environmental Awareness and Conservation
• Learning about Environment Protection