It was a perfect day for an early morning cycle ride. Several people gathered at the Rani Channamma Circle to ride around the city to spread awareness about health and hygiene.
On Hockey legend Dhyan Chand’s birthday, celebrated as National Sports Day, the zilla panchayat had organised a cycle rally as part of its Swachch Bharat initiative.
Young athletes, school and college students, donning t-shirts and boards tied to their cycles with slogans on Swachch Bharat, woke up early and reached the circle to participate in the rally. They raised slogans about the need to keep surroundings clean.
Several enthusiasts cycled from Channamma Circle to KLE Hospital, Kakati Road, Bauxite Road, Club Road and back, covering a distance of around 12 km. The traffic police had cleared the roads and made way for the safe passage of the rally.
Later, Mr. Ramachandran asked people to lay equal stress on building and using toilets. Around two lakh toilets need to be built before the district becomes open defecation free. “We have constructed 30,000 and work has started on 70,000 toilets,” he said. He said priority was on building toilets in the houses of the rural poor and educating them about using them.
Superintendent of Police Ravikante Gowda asked youngsters to create awareness on maintaining hygiene in and around the villages.
MP Suresh Angadi, Inspector General of Police K. Ramachandra Rao, Commissioner of Police T.G. Krishna Bhat, Chief Conservator of Forests Krishna Udupudi, Deputy Commissioners of Police Seema Latkar and Amarnath Reddy, Joint Director of Agriculture Venkatram Reddy, and others participated. They distributed certificates appreciating the participation of cyclists.
