Women's car rally to highlight forest issues

To highlight the importance of saving forests and elephants, a women's car rally will be held from Delhi to Rishikesh in Uttarakhand from March 29 to 31. The rally also aims to spread awareness on women empowerment and breast cancer prevention.

The rally would be executed by Team I-Sports, a group of six motor sport enthusiasts and professional rallyists under the Federation of Motosports Clubs of India, the Indian counterpart of Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).

"Everytime a rally is organised, general people misinterpret it as a race. But this is a time, speed and distance event wherein the driver who drives beyond or below the prescribed speed limit will lose points," said Umesh Raheja, a team member.

The rally, which will be flagged off from Delhi, will see all the drivers going to the interiors of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to spread the awareness about the environment.

The rally has been taking place for the past five years with women from varied backgrounds participating to spread a awareness.

Manisha Ahlawat, 36, a third time participant, said that such rallies are necessary to change the mindset of the people who think women are not good drivers.

"It’s a general perception that women cannot drive safely, but it's not so. Such rallies also help in empowering womenfolk," said Ahlawat. - IANS