Delhi kick-starts car-free day

Government urges people to not use their cars between 7 a.m. and 12 noon today.

With an increasing number of cars taking over the Delhi roads and the deteriorating state of public transport, Delhiites could do with some change.

With this in mind, the Delhi Government is organising its first car-free day campaign ‘Ab Bus Karein’ on Thursday.

While it is a voluntary effort, the government has urged the people of Delhi to refrain from travelling between Red Fort and Bhagwan Dass Road in their personal cars and two-wheelers between 7 a.m. and 12 noon and rather use public transport. The government has announced that there will be more DTC buses and three-wheelers available along the stretch to ensure that commuters face no difficulty.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his colleagues in the cabinet and other legislators will take part in a cycle rally to encourage people to use public transport. ‘Ab Bus Karein’ campaign will be organised on the 22{+n}{+d}of every month on different and pre-decided stretches of roads. Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Muktesh Chander said the traffic police would create a special cycle lane along the route to facilitate the cycle rally.

The traffic police are expecting between 200 and 500 cycles as part of the rally. Senior officers said they are not too concerned about motorists encroaching the cycle lane as few vehicles are expected to be on the road at 7 a.m. when the cycle rally is planned. However, the traffic police personnel will step in if need be.

While the concept is gaining popularity in congested cities across the world, government agencies and organisations working in the field of mobility experimented with the concept first in Hyderabad and then in neighbouring Gurgaon, where car-free day is observed on some roads every Tuesday.

(Photos by V. Sudershan)