Scuba diver Prateek, lovely called Sanu, aged 12 years, was felicitated by Rayagada district Collector Dr Sashibhusan Padhi at K Singhpur on Sunday. At a meeting organised by the Rayagada chapter of the Odisha Engineering Services, Dr Padhi highly praised the brevity of the young lad in the presence of his parents engineer Sunil Patnaik and doctor Brahmotri Das.
“If a boy of this young age could dive seventy feet deep into the sea at Havlock Island of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, it is possible for the Government employees to have a sincere engagement for development of the area of a difficult terrain like Andaman and Nicobar. One needs strong willpower and discipline to work for a cause like Prateek,” said Dr Padhi.
Prateek agreed that without the encouragement of his parents it would have been a difficult task for him to find a place in the limca Book of Records.
Prateek, who studies at the St Xaviers School, Bhubaneswar, learnt swimming in the Kalinga Stadium pool and then succeeded in swimming in sea against a current for 200 meters as part of the selection process.
He took further training only for six days at the A&N Islands to acquire an international licence for scuba diving. He had the opportunity to see crocodiles, starfish, octopus, jelly fish, corals during his sea journeys.
He has a future plan to explore the India-Sri lanka sea channel, popularly known as Ram Setu. He is in touch with international scuba diver of Odisha Sabir Bux. He is a brilliant student in the school and balances his studies with the hobby.
The meeting was attended by PD, DRDA, Rayagada, PK Satpathy, Executive Engineer GC Sahu and others from different parts of Rayagada.