ITBP brings J&K kids on Odisha tour

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), headquartered at New Delhi, organised an awareness tour of the children of Chusul, a remote village in Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir to Odisha with an aim to make them learn about the ‘unity in diversity’ feature of the country.

Chusul village, located at an altitude of 14,000 feet plus on China border, witnesses temperature upto minus 25 degrees. This village was one the battlefields during Indo-China War fought in October 1962.

The excursion party, comprising 12 girls, 10 boys and two teachers, landed at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here July 15, 2018. It was the first time that these children had moved out of their mountainous native place. To make these children aware about the culture and traditions of Odisha, 41 Batallion, ITBP, Khordha was assigned the responsibility.

July 16, 2018, the children were taken to see various sites like Khandagiri and Udayagiri caves, Nandankanan Zoological Park, Pathani Samanta Planetarium, Tribal Museum and Dhauligiri.

On July 17, these children visited the holy city of Puri to get the blessings of Lord Jagannath. They were fortunate enough to see the deities on their respective chariots. Driving along the Marine Drive, these children were spellbound to see the greenery and the seashore running all along the road.

At Chandrabhagha, the children were amazed to see the waves of the sea soaring high and low.

Children were also amazed to see the merger of the Kushabhadra river with the sea.

Later, the children visited the Sun Temple at Konark where they got the glimpses of ancient Kalinga empire at the IOCL auditorium through an animation film and Archaeological Museum at Konark.

Before leaving for Leh on July 17, the kids were all thankful to 41 Batallion, ITBP, Khordha for having made their stay very comfortable and their visit a memorable one.