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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Vizag’s bicycle revolution-Sobhana K

Vizag’s bicycle revolution-Sobhana K

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published Published on Mar 23, 2012   modified Modified on Mar 23, 2012
-The Telegraph

On Monday mornings, the white ambassadors with red beacons go missing from the premises of the municipality in Visakhapatnam. Instead, a queue of bicycles adorns the parking ground in front of the office.

Commissioner B. Ramanjaneyalu and his senior officials may be entitled to government cars but on the week’s first working day, they have to leave the comfort of their cars behind and compulsorily bike to office.

It’s all part of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation’s efforts to make cycling “fashionable”.

It’s an agenda the Union urban development ministry of Kamal Nath has been trying to sell to the states, whose lethargy in following it compares only to the ministry’s own half-heartedness in pushing it.

Visakhapatnam’s city fathers have been an exception, though. They have already introduced a “cycle-sharing” programme for the public and are planning an ambitious expansion.

Under the plan, 2,000 bicycles will be stationed at 20 points across the municipality’s area and will be at the public’s disposal to use and return, free of cost.

“The users only have to deposit a proof of identity,” said the municipality’s sports director, Y. Srinivasan, who heads the programme.

The civic body has sought a Rs 10-crore assistance from Kamal Nath’s ministry. The project comes up for discussion on Friday when the central sanctioning and monitoring committee is expected to flash the green light.

The municipality began the programme in a small way, starting with a pilot project last November. A 5km road along the sea beach was declared a no-go area for motor vehicles between 5.30 and 7.30 every morning, and 20 cycles were made available to the public. The scheme’s popularity prompted the expansion plan.

In Delhi, however, the idea — which can not only reduce pollution and ease traffic problems but confers immense health benefits — has been losing ground.

The Planning Commission recently rejected an urban development ministry demand for Rs 150 crore for a cycle-sharing programme. The ministry was told to use the National Urban Renewal Mission funds instead.

Bereft of a dedicated sum for the project, the ministry is now looking for alternative means. Kamal Nath will soon be writing to MPs to use their local area development funds to finance cycle-sharing projects in their constituencies, sources said.

The ministry has also made it mandatory for all new Metro railway projects to have a cycle-sharing programme.

“In the metropolises, the main problem is the last-mile travel. Even if there is a Metro, to reach the station you need a vehicle. We want to make sure that a sizeable population starts using bicycles for this purpose,” said S.K. Lohia, officer on special duty at the ministry.

The Telegraph, 23 March, 2012, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120323/jsp/nation/story_15285322.jsp#.T2wKCYGbCkw


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