Workers, who cycle to work are real champions to promote cycling in city; Sarbjit Kaur
CSCL organized 8.4 Kms cycle rally from Jan Marg, Rose Garden to mark World Bicycle Day
Chandigarh, June 3:- Chandigarh, a city which has the distinction of having 200 Kms. Of dedicated cycle tracks and the largest Public Bike sharing system in the country, with 2500 cycles on road and 2500 more cycles in the pipeline, celebrated the World Bicycle Day with a difference.
A cycle rally organized to mark the world bicycle day, the Chandigarh Smart City Ltd. has dedicated it to the real champions of cycling including sanitation workers, public health workers, gardeners, road and construction workers, who commute to work on their bicycles, carrying their tiffin boxes, work all day long and go back to their homes on their bicycles. To ensure their road safety, reflective stickers were pasted on the bicycles to make them visible at night.
The rally was flagged of at 6.30 am by Smt. Sarbjit Kaur, city Mayor alongwith Ms. Anindita Mitra, IAS, CEO, Chandigarh Smart City Ltd. amid cycle lovers of city and prominent persons of the city. The rallies started from Jan Marg from Rose Garden side and passed towards Rock Garden & Sukhna Lake and culminate at the start point after completing 8.4 Kms route.
More than 1000 participants, including the councilors, employees of Municipal Corporation, professional cyclists, students, local residents etc. participated enthusiastically in this cycle rally, organized by CSCL in collaboration with Kotak Mahindra Bank. 500 smart bikes were also arranged for the cycle lovers to take free rides today.
While addressing the cycle lovers, the Mayor said that the people who daily cycle to work are the real promoters of cycling in any city and the authorities should come forward to encourage and motivate such people by providing necessary support to them and by creating platforms to the cyclists in their workplaces. She said that this time the CSCL has taken unique initiative to mark the world bicycle day by involving the regular cyclists, who peddle cycle to work daily to boost their moral and contribution towards environment.
The Mayor said that the officials and staff of the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh who can use a bicycle regularly to come to the office should use it on a regular basis. Also all the employees will be encouraged to cycle to the office once a month.
She said that it is very important to make people aware about the importance of using bicycles for transportation. There is a need to create environmental awareness by avoiding pollution caused by vehicles. All ages of people will be motivated to use the cycle for daily commute.
Ms. Anindita Mitra, IAS, CEO, Chandigarh Smart City Ltd. congratulated all the cycle lovers of city on World Bicycle Day and emphasized that cycling is the most convenient way to commute to work as it avoid traffic woes and made the cyclist feel happy. She said that if not possible for day long ride, one should start with smaller distances, may be a ride to the grocery store or in a local park.
The event was a ‘Zero Waste’ event and water dispensers were provided at the venue and throughout the route. The rally also contributed towards ensuring Chandigarh’s strong participation in the ‘One-day Cycling Challenge for cities and city leaders’- an inter-city competition being organized by the Smart Cities Mission.
Sh. Dalip Sharma, Senior Deputy Mayor, Sh. Anup Gupta, Deputy Mayor, Sh. Mahesh Inder Singh Sidhu and Sh. Sorabh Joshi, councilors, Sh. D.V. Manohar, Chairman, Smart Bike, representatives from Kotak Mahindra Bank and other senior officers of CSCL and Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh have also took part in the cycle rally.
