11-year-old attempts 550 km swim in raging Ganga in 10 days

Even as the river continues to rage and devastate many parts of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar, Shraddha took the plunge on Sunday at the Massacre Ghat in Kanpur for the swimming feat as locals cheered on. She aims to conclude at the Gau Ghat in Varanasi on the 10th day. Shraddha will be taking refreshment and washroom breaks. Her feat will be the equivalent of 13 Olympic marathons and she plans to swim about 60 km each day, taking a break every four to five hours. On the first day Shraddha covered 100 km between the Siddhnath Ghat to Chandrika Devi temple in Unnao. On her second day she is scheduled to swim from Chandrika Devi to Sankata Devi in Rae Bareli (40 km), followed by Sankata Devi temple to Singhverpur (60 km) on the third day then Singhverpur-Naubasta Ghat in Fatehpur (40 km), and on the fifth from Naubasta Ghat to Kadedham in Kaushambi (30 km). On the sixth day she will reach Sangam in Allahabad from Kadedhaam (30 km). On Day 7 Shraddha will attempt 60 km and touch Vindhyavasini Ghat in Mirzapur. She will then swim from the Vindhyavasini Ghat to Katlaghat in Mirzapur (60 km), Katlaghat to Barauli Ghat in Varanasi (60 km) on the penultimate day and swim to the Gau Ghat from there, which is a 70-km distance.