City para-cyclist pedals to save environment

Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, January 20 

At an age when the youth take pride in flaunting their costly bike or car, Abhishek Singh Sheku (27), a para-cyclist, prefers pedalling around the city to give the message of saving the environment. Abishek Sheku, a BTech in computer sciences, today took part in a cycle rally flagged off by Manish Tandon, deputy general manager, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (retail region). The rally was organised in association with the Petroleum Conservation Research Association and media partner The Tribune. 

Over 200 cyclists from the tricity participated in the cycle rally. The traffic police, too, made elaborate arrangements on the rally route. 

Sheku said he had started cycling at the age of 15. He said even though his right leg was polio-affected, this never deterred him from taking part in cycling championships across the world.

 The founder and fitness coach of Paddaling Star, Sheku said he became the first Indian to win a gold medal in the Asian Para-Cycling Championship in Bahrain in 2017. 

He said over 80 countries had participated in the championship and all three positions were bagged by Indians. 

Hailing for Chandigarh, Sheku said he was ranked eighth in the world by the Union Cyclist Internationalist and was declared the best cyclist of India from 2013 to 2017. Sheku said he wanted to send the message of saving the environment by participating in cycle rallies across the country. He said that he never used a motorcycle or car while travelling in the city. 

Addressing youngsters at the cycle rally organised to highlight the need to save fuel and the environment in Panchkula, Sheku said use bicycle as a mode of transport in the city. He said this would not only save the fuel but also save the mother earth from global warming. 

He said he was also campaigning for ‘Swachhta Abhiyan and asked children to keep their surroundings clean. He said patriotism can’t not be revealed by singing the National Anthem or hoisting the Tricolour, instead it should come from the heart. 

Another participant from Mohali, Ram (8), was a star attraction. A student of Class II said, he could paddle the bicycle for 50 to 60 km during cycle rallies held in the tricity.