Smitha Rao, a doctor, did not know that she could walk from her home to the clinic, a distance of about 2.5 km, in 20 minutes. But the first car-free day initiated by the Mangaluru Bicycle Club on Saturday here made her realise this fact.
“It took just about 5 minutes more than riding my scooter from Kadri Shivabagh to Valencia,” Dr. Smitha told The Hindu . She took a bus back home for lunch and the bicycle in the evening. Similar was the experience of Mithun Miranda, who rode his bicycle from his home in Mary Hill to his office at Alake, Mannagudda.
“I took 20 minutes to cycle the 6 km distance via KPT and Bejai, almost equal to the time taken on my motorcycle. Back home, I took 10 minutes more as there were climbs,” Mr. Miranda, a design engineer with an electric design company said.
On the other hand, Shyamprasad Nayak, a businessman who regularly drives a car to his work, resorted to cycling and travelling by city buses. “It was a different experience altogether to travel in a bus as I got a chance to interact with many people,” Mr. Nayak said. B.R. Sadashiva Rao, a distributor of Ayurvedic products, went on bicycle to meet his customers in the afternoon.
Nishant Chand, who works at Mangaluru International Airport, had to take his office bus, but he used the bicycle to do sundry chores of the day. Similar was the experience of software engineer Lohith Rao, who visited supermarkets to buy daily needs with a backpack on his bicycle.
Ganesh Nayak, the founder of the Club, rode the bicycle to his shop from home, a distance of about 4 km. His wife Preethi Nayak too joined him on a cycle. Kishan Bangera and Donald Menezes, whom the cyclists call killers of mountain for breaking records in distance as well as climbs, cycled around the city to get their sundry works done. Mr. Bangera, who works for the Railways, could not ride a bicycle to work because he had some pre-scheduled meeting, he said.
A journalist riding the bicycle was stopped by a traffic police constable at a signal, and was asked, “Sir, are you a part of the car-free day.” On getting a positive response, the constable said that in a couple of months, this initiative should gain popularity. “I read about this in the newspapers,” he said.
Mr. Nayak said based on the feedback, the Club would chalk out a future course, including massive campaign for car-free second Saturdays with like-minded organisations and government authorities.
It took just about 5 minutes more than riding my scooter from Kadri Shivabagh to Valencia.
