New Delhi, Aug 21 (PTI) Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and former India football captain Baichung Bhutia on Wednesday flagged off the Delhi leg of Op-Blue Freedom, an initiative in which a group of armed forces veterans train sports enthusiasts in survival training and self-defence.

Op-Blue Freedom is a nation-wide adaptive scuba diving programme for people with disabilities as well as the able bodied.

After the success of the Chandigarh leg, the group of eight veterans, including from the elite special forces of PARA regiment and MARCO, dived on Monday at SPM Swimming Pool Complex here.

The dive sessions for civilians will be kept open from August 22-25, from 9 am-5pm, for the civilians.

"I feel happy to be a part of this closed water Op-Blue freedom dive today. I intend to create awareness about adventure sports amidst the abled and disabled souls of this nation," Rijiju said.

The program aims to train adventure enthusiasts in special forces skills like survival techniques, emergency first response skills, unarmed combat, endurance and fitness.

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