Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra was present at the flag-off ceremony by the Vice President, who arrived here yesterday on a five-day tour, an official spokesman said.
The expedition, that comprises 43 mountaineers - 24 university and college students from various parts of country, 10 Army and nine Air Force Personnel - will conclude on September 26, the spokesman said.
The members of the expedition, who have undergone mountaineering training organised at JIMWS, were introduced to the Vice President and the Governor who interacted with them and wished them good luck for the mission, the spokesman said.
He said the Vice President and the Governor, who were shown mountaineering, rock climbing, skiing, rowing and river rafting equipment, witnessed a climbing and river crossing demonstration given by the trainees of the Institute.
In his power point presentation, Principal, JIMWS, Col Virinder Singh, said the Institute organises training courses in adventure, ad hoc adventure, basic mountaineering, advance mountaineering, search and rescue, basic, intermediate and advance skiing course, white water rafting and para-gliding.
It also trains tourist guides to enhance employability of the youth, he said adding these courses are also helping in the promotion of adventure tourism in the State.
He said at the instance of the Amarnath Shrine Board, the Institute deploys two Rescue Teams during the annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine to assist the Yatris in any emergent situation, particularly at the difficult stretches of the track.
Land measuring 50 kanals (2.5 hectares) has become available and an amount of Rs 15 crore been sanctioned for the construction of Sub-Centre at Bhadarwah, on which the work is likely to commence shortly, while the land has also been identified for the Shey Sub-Centre, he said.
The spokesman said mementos were presented to the Vice President and the Governor on this occasion.
Before departure for Srinagar, Ansari was presented a memento by Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Farooq Ahmad Shah, on behalf of the District Administration, as memorabilia of his visit to the south Kashmir hill resort.
