Pressing on the need to create cycle-friendly roads and lifting of restriction on cycles on city roads, 300 cyclists from different walks of life participated in a cycle rally here on Sunday.
Organised by Cycle Samaj and SwitchON, a travel exhibition was launched at the rally, which displayed alternative sustainable and efficient transport designs for major arterial roads on the rally’s route. The rally travelled from Taratala in the city’s south upto Shyam Bazaar in north Kolkata and covered a distance of over 85 km.
The rally was flagged of by transport expert Mahesh Gaur of TRIPP, IIT Delhi. Speaking at the occasion,
Mr. Gaur said, “If we want to make our cities sustainable, we must provide equal right to access of public areas to all road users as per their proportion of the users on the roads. Our Constitution provides the basic human rights of all citizens of India in this regard. This is the duty of the State to provide equal right to space to all its citizens. Every road user has their right to use the road and this is their fundamental right.”
Expressing hope that the West Bengal government and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation would promote cycles and other non-motorised modes of transport, Raghu Jana of Cycle Samaj said that cycle lanes should be introduced in major streets and cycle stands be made at important junctions.
In June 2013, the Kolkata Police issued a notification restricting cycles on 174 city roads. Activist Medha Patkar had also written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying any blanket ban on cycling would work against the poor and working class people. Later the ban was relaxed and restrictions were lifted on a number of thoroughfares.
“According to the Census 2011 there are twice as many cycles and non-motorised transport in Kolkata than cars or motor cycles. Twenty-five lakh trips are made each day on cycles alone. Apart from livelihood, cycles are also beneficial in account of growing pollution, oil price rise, health and traffic congestion,” a press communiqué released by SwitchOn stated.
