Cycle rally held for a greener Ahmedabad

Malhar Nayak is a school student and loves cycling with his friends. But heavy traffic and in-disciplined driving on city roads in Ahmedabad doesn't give him an opportunity to cycle very often. But Malhar did not miss an opportunity to hit city roads on Sunday morning and joined others who cycled four kilometres to show  support for good public space, safe & dedicated bicycle paths, bus-based public transport and other environmental issues.

Around 150 people joined the cycle rally — iCycle For Green City, organised by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), from Kanoria Centre for Arts on Sunday morning. The cycles and a couple of cycle-rickshaws generated curiosity among the onlookers, as the rally passed from Panjarapol and CG Road.

"My school is just 10 minutes away from home but my mother sends me to school in a van. She thinks it is dangerous to cycle to school on Ahmedabad road," said Malhar. "I believe cycling is good for health and also reduces use of fuel and so helps environment," he said, citing the reason behind joining the rally.
Siddharth Baide, an athlete, was also one of the participants. "It is important for everyone to cycle as it is good for health. My office is close to my home and I use cycle to commute to office everyday," he said.

Jay Parsi, a student of municipal school, drove the cycle all the way from Ellisbridge to participate in the rally. "Hope more people use cycle and other vehicles on city roads disappear," said he.
Anuj Malhotra, of ITDP, said the main idea behind organising the cycle rally was to make people aware about safe and dedicated bicycle track. "In Ahmedabad, we hardly have safe stretch where people could cycle and enjoy. The authorities should not only promote cycling habit among people but also give them separate cycle tracks," he said.