Ganderbal, Sep 04 (KNO): A group of girls from central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district have launched a trekking group ‘Valley Adventurous Club’ to “explore the valley”. Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Taiba Jan, founder of the group, said the main mission of the club is to “prevent girls from falling to depression and social evils” and to discover the “real essence of nature”. “As we have been witnessing numerous suicide incidents by girls after falling into depression, so we came up with this initiative to save our youth from falling into such situations and keep them happy and to lead a healthy lifestyle,” she said. Taiba said that girls from various districts like Ganderbal, Bandipora, Srinagar, Budgam and Baramulla have joined the club. As a ‘girls only’ group, we feel comfortable in many ways during the adventure, she said. Shazia Hameed from Bandipora said, “It is amazing to be a part of this club. We gained a lot of information during trekking, enjoyed it a lot and felt safe and secure.” I have been with the group for two months and I intend to stay with this for as long as possible, she added. Another member from Srinagar said she was very enthusiastic about trekking but was not receiving a proper platform. When I came to know about this club, I joined it and now this is one of my best decisions of life, she said, adding, “I feel secure, empowered and have gained a lot of knowledge and life experience.” Aneesa from Budgam said she feels “very proud” of her achievements as a trekker and loves to talk about her travel stories to her friends and cousins. The group members further said that they had many successful treks so far in Ganderbal and Bandipora districts. “We aim to explore many trekking destinations in the entire valley. Since we manage it on our own, we do lack support and sponsorships for our club,” they said. The club has appealed to the authorities to provide them with support saying trekking as a sport keeps youth at bay from ill activities and helps the youngsters lead a healthy lifestyle. “The healthy youth can contribute positively to the nation-building,” Taiba said—(KNO)