Commuters at the city’s Metro Stations would be issued bicycles free of cost, Hyderabad Metro Rail Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy said on Wednesday. A drive has already been initiated in schools across the twin cities urging children to cycle to school, he said.
It was Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s vision that the cities be designed for people and not cars, Mr. Reddy told a press conference.
Hyderabad Bicycling Club chairman D.V. Manohar claimed that about 5,200 had gotten themselves enrolled to the club. This was the second highest membership in the world. An online membership drive had begun to enrol new members in the HBC.
“After the first bike station came up near Sanjeevaiah Park, cycling communities have become active in Gachibowli too,” Mr. Manohar said, calling for a change for active mobility in the country’s commuting culture. The HBC chairman announced that he had been elected to the steering board of the World Cycling Alliance.
“To change the perception of cycling being the poor man’s vehicle to becoming the preferred mode of transport is a challenge. India is burdened by a 1.2 billion population from which the influx to the cities is expected to touch 250 million, the equivalent of 11 Australias,” Mr. Manohar observed.
The benefitsCycling would not only be of physical benefit to the individual, but also reduce pollution in cities. Moreover, it would also lower the country’s oil import bill, he pointed out. HBC general secretary T. Satyanarayana Reddy, two-time Asian paracycling medalist Aditya Mehta and others were also present.
