Bicycles have become out of fashion for today’s youth, who prefer to zoom around on their latest motor bikes. And naturally, they are adding to traffic congestion and automobile pollution in the cities reported Mail Today.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has decided to promote ‘ bicycle culture’ in the city to create a safe and healthy environment. With the help of the 1800- member strong Hyderabad Bicycling Club ( HBC), the GHMC started the initiative beginning on Sunday last. A three- km stretch along the Necklace Road abutting Hussainsagar lake in the heart of the city has been declared as “ cycling zone.” The corporation has taken up several measures such as formation of cycle sheds for maintenance and rentals, development of cycling paths and diversion of traffic in the morning between 5 am and 7 am.
So, the citizens can now happily do cycling all along the lake early in the morning. They can bring their own cycles or take them on rent from the HBC for a fee of ` 20 per hour. The club will also provide the headgear, if the cyclists want.
GHMC Commissioner M T Krishna Babu says more such tracks would be created in different parts of the city in the coming days. “ Apart from developing 125 km of pedestrian friendly footpaths across the city, we aim to create a safe environment for cycling by constructing dedicated tracks for the same,” he said.