Thursday, 08 October 2020 | Purnima Bisht | Dehradun
In the recent past, the practice of cycling has become more popular in Dehradun. Though most of the locals use cycle as a way to exercise, very few actually use a cycle as a means of transport. According to those locals who use bicycles in the morning to burn calories but not as a routine transport, the roads and traffic on the main roads of the city are not suitable for riding bicycles daily. “I cycle for one hour every morning but I cannot think about doing it during the day to travel to my office. The traffic is so intense every day that it seems impossible to reach the office on time cycling through the vehicular rush on the city roads. It is risky as well as not worth putting much effort if there are no proper facilities for cyclists,” said local resident, Raj Adhikari. Talking about cycling and issues concerned, independent director of Dehradun Smart City Limited, Lokesh Ohri said that most of the people riding bicycles in the city do it for fitness purposes and not on the busy roads. “One of the main reasons for this is that people prefer to travel by cars and bikes even for a short distance to represent their status and standard in society. People associate cars with status. Such beliefs have stigmatised the regular use of cycling as a mode of transportation as it was done about 10 years to 15 years ago,” said Ohri. He also added that besides this, safety concerns are also a major issue in the mind of a cyclist. There are no proper spaces on the roads for a cyclist to ride with ease besides the other vehicles, said Ohri. He stated, “I have proposed the idea of making cycling tracks on the roads under smart city project multiple times but there is still some uncertainty on this matter. In Dehradun, a considerable proportion of the population either walks or cycles and if some improvement can be made on the roads, people will be encouraged to use bicycles. Moreover, the administration can also commence campaigns in association with schools and educational institutions to promote cycling in order to attract the attention of the younger generation.” He said that if maximum people cycle, it will benefit the city in many ways including less traffic, less air and noise pollution besides better health and a great option to maintain physical distance while travelling on main roads amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
