Kids to Seniors Participate in ‘Cycling4change’ Held by WE R Cycling and MSCL
Mangaluru: Enthusiastic kids along with senior cyclists participated in large numbers for the cycling event “Cycling4change” organized by the WE R Cycling club along with Mangaluru Smart City Limited (MSCL) in association with Architect Niren Jain. The “Cycling4change” rally began from the Mangala Stadium on September 27 at 7:00 am.
The 10-kilometre pilot route, Cycling Oni, connects various schools, playgrounds, markets, railway station, riverfront and other prominent places in the city. This route will be developed as a dedicated corridor for Cycling.
Before the ride, the event coordinator and the representative of WERC for Mangaluru Smart city “Cycling4change” committee Harniish Raj, instructed and educated the novice riders on thumb rules of riding safely on public roads and ensuring that masks were worn by all the participants as per government regulations for COVID-19 safety.
The Cycling4change, a 10-kilometre ride, was flagged off by the General Manager of Mangaluru Smart City Limited Arun Prabha. 65 riders from 6 to 61 years of age participated in the cycle ride. After the ride, all the riders gathered at the Mangala stadium premises.
Addressing the cyclists Managing Director, Mangaluru Smart City Ltd Mohammad Nazeer said, “I would like to thank WE R Cycling for organizing the event. I request all the clubs to create awareness and encourage more and more people to take part in Cycling. We will be organizing one more cycling event for which I request all the cycling clubs to support us.”
Speaking on the occasion, President of WE R Cycling Sarvesh Samaga said, “Today’s ride was wonderful, and I thank everyone for joining us. I hope that all of those who have participated in the ride are now familiar with some stretch of the route which takes you to your schools. Will you promise us that you will be riding your bikes to school? First of all, I would like to thank each and everyone for taking part in this event. We will be organizing similar rides in the future with the help of MSCL. The Mangaluru Smart City Limited is taking all the initiatives to help the cyclists to make the roads safer so that everyone can ride their bicycles. This initiative is not only for the kids but also for their parents and family members. Please make use of this green initiative taken by Mangaluru Smart City Limited, yes we all can join hands and help them to organize the Cycling4change. The motivation for Today’s ride is to make Mangaluru city greener.”
After the ride cyclists shared opinion, suggestions and recommendations were presented to the Mangaluru Smart City officials for deliberation and implementation to make Mangaluru safe for cyclists.
Dr Swapna sharing here opinion said, “I ride regularly twice a week in Mangaluru. Sometimes I find it difficult to ride, but I manage to ride to keep myself fit. People should take up Cycling to keep themselves fit. At present, we cyclists sometimes face problems mainly from buses, Car drivers suddenly opening the doors and two-wheelers coming from the opposite direction. More and more cyclists will enjoy riding if there is a dedicated cycling lane.”
Cyclist Ekta sharing her experience said, “I have always been commuting by cycle be it school or college but not in Mangaluru because of the weather conditions here. I was born and brought up in Nagpur, where most of the roads are flat and riding to school or college is quite comfortable and easy. But in Mangaluru we do not have flat roads and riders should be trained to ride on such roads. We should train the children on how to commute to school. I purchased a bicycle for commuting to work, but the weather here is not favourable.”
Cyclist Anil Shastri said, “I came to Mangaluru 6 years ago, and from the past five years I have been riding the bicycle. In Mangaluru the basic problem is that the roads are widened, but people do not have a footpath to walk. We should first ask for footpaths so that together with the footpaths we will get the cycling lanes. Mangaluru is a healthy city to live, and we need to improve the health indicators in Mangaluru”.
Speaking on the occasion, Mayor Diwakar said, “Today MSCL along with WE R Cycling organized “Cycling4change”, to encourage the general public to use the bicycle for commuting. Earlier there were very few bicycles in Mangaluru, but now many children, youth and older people are seen using the bicycle. To promote and encourage Cycling we are dedicating the Cycling Oni at the cost of Rs 8.2 crore under the Smart City project”.
When asked about installing CCTV cameras and lights for the Cycling Lanes, Mayor Diwakar said, “Under the Smart city project We are installing 60,000 LED lights in all the 60 wards within two months. Because of the rains we were not able to repair the roads, all the roads will be repaired before the Dasara festival. We will also install CCTV cameras throughout the Cycling lane.”
Besides the members of WE R CYCLING, Cycles4Change officials Niren Jain (Architect & Environmental Planners consultant to MSCL for transforming Mangaluru to a Cycling Friendly City), officials from Mangaluru Smart City, Manju Keerthi, Mohammad Sabith, Archana Sudesh and Chandrakant, Nodal officer for India Cycle’s 4change challenge were also present.
