New Town to add another 20 km safe cycle tracks
Kolkata: New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) is going full throttle to make cycling a popular and eco-friendly mode of transport.
New Town already has 11 km of grade-separated cycle tracks and another 20 km are planned to be added. In addition, another 20 km has been identified to be made into safe bicycle tracks by narrowing down roads called 'dieting.' All zones have been made after careful planning by expert town planners and physical inspections.
It may be mentioned that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked the administration to prepare a plan for graded cycle path in Kolkata.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded people the utility of cycles as hundreds of employees were seen cycling down to reach their place of work.
The initiative taken by the Chief Minister to give free cycles to students studying between classes IX and XII of state run, aided and sponsored schools under the Sabuj Sathi scheme has reduced school drop outs considerably. The Sabuj Sathi cycles helped the fathers of neighbouring districts to reach their offices in Kolkata.
The popularity of cycling is going up globally. In Belgium a dedicated highway has been constructed for the cyclists.
Meanwhile, a short barrier-free pavement zone of 750m length though primarily for wheel-chair-friendly movement but also suitable for bicycling was launched in June. Steps have been taken to reintroduce the Public Bicycle Share scheme on a VGF (Viability Gap Funding) basis and it is hoped that it will happen after the lockdown period. And
these will contain several e-Cycles too that can be hired, where pedalling is assisted by a battery. New Town had also participated the first workshop with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs where experts dedicated to "Kickstarting the Cycle of Change" were
present. This first workshop was done over Webex Video-Conference.
In New Town, cycle rallies are being held regularly and the World Bicycle Day has been observed since it began on June 3, 2018.
