Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju and MoS Jal Shakti Ministry Ratan Lal Kataria flagged off "Great Ganga Run" at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Sunday.
The marathon was orgsed to create awareness about 'Ganga'.
"It is a good initiative by Ministry of Jal Shakti. This marathon has been orgsed by them. It has a very elaborative message. Ganga is very important for the country and we needed to create awareness. In this marathon, people from every age group are participating. I would like to congratulate the orgsers on getting a number of people involved with Namami Gange Marathon," Rijiju told reporters.
"We were preparing for this event for one month. We had online registrations. Almost 20,000 enrolled for this marathon. It is nice to see so many people turning up for the marathon. We will orgse Ganga Expedition from October 9 as well," Gajendra Singh said.
On August 5, the Central government abrogated Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. They also brought in a Jammu and Kashmir Re-Orgsation bill bifurcating the state into two Union Territories--Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
"Yesterday, I met a number of young people from Jammu and Kashmir. They want to take part in sports. We are making plans for different cities and villages. Sabko saath lekar chalenge," Rijiju said.
( With inputs from ANI )