Bhandaripokhari: At a time when fuel prices and pollution are worrying the common man, a solar-powered tricycle developed by a village ITI graduate has become the talk of the town here.
Nicknamed scientist as he had earlier developed a solar-powered bicycle, Rakesh Nayak of Kulana village of Tesinga panchayat in this block in Bhadrak district was recently in news for his new solar-powered tricycle.
Rakesh takes great pride in narrating his successes despite problems in life. “It was when I was thinking of tapping solar power using modern technology that I decided to develop a solar bicycle. I started working on it and succeeded,” says Rakesh.
His quest for developing new things did not end here. He kept on thinking how a tricycle could be developed to help physically challenged people, and achieved success in his second endeavour too.
This tricycle can operate at a speed of 20 km an hour. It has two 20 ampere batteries of 24 volts, a 300 watt motor of 24 volt, two solar plates of 100 watts, an electric accelerator, horn and light. It also has facilities to charge a mobile phone and play music.
“if a mechanical glitch occurs during a journey, the rider has no need to worry. It has a hand-driven pedal as backup,” he said.
Rakesh’s dream came true after two and a half months of labour and after an investment of Rs 13,000.
His determination gave him success despite obstacles. Rakesh’s father, Subash Chandra Nayak, is a music teacher and does farming. Mother Pramila is a homemaker. Rakesh passed out from Barpada ITI in the electrical trade in 2015.
Despite his family’s poor financial condition, he decided to do something new when he was looking for a job. His brothers helped him in making his dream come true.
The public showered praise on him when his solar tricycle hit the road. But he feels he would get value for his labour only when the government recognizes his invention and distributes the tricycles among the disabled instead of the currently used hand-driven ones.
Rakesh says he met the district administration officials, leaders and ministers, but has received no help.
PNN