Shriram Iyer
When I was deputed to Milan, Italy for work, during the weekend my colleagues and I got an opportunity to be on a “bicicletta giro” a 30kms cycling tour in a town named Sondrio, north east to Milan and bordering Switzerland. Being a cycling enthusiast, I can tell you it was one of the most promising and fulfilling tours of my life. Within the city they had a different cycling lane at the backdrop of the beautiful Alps mountain ranges, a set of rules which all the bikers were required to follow which includes wearing helmets and protective gears to avoid any injury, overall, they had a much disciplined approach towards abiding the law.
While further ahead in our journey, we could also experience the dense forest, green farmlands with rabbits hopping around, a very rich variety of birds and flowers, wine yards, and what was most striking is that the quality of air was impeccable! This tour made me realise one thing, humans are solely responsible for whatever good or bad is happening around us. The final result whether good or bad depends entirely on our collective decision as a society!
While I was commuting back from the Mumbai airport to my home, something bit my conscience, why can’t we have and follow similar rules and regulations like in Italy or in most European nations or for that matter like China? Two decades ago, China pushed bikes aside to advance its car-centric ambitions. Now, it’s regretting that move and reintroduced the culture to make cycling look cool again. Every day 1.2 million kilometres are cycled in Copenhagen (capital city of Denmark), with 62% of all citizens commuting to work, school or university by bicycle. Cycling is generally thought to be as a healthier, more environmentally friendly, cheaper and often quicker way to get around city than by public transport or car.
In India, however despite the existing traffic and the pollution problem we tend to stick to our rudimentary solutions of using our car or a rickshaw or a public transport even for shorter distances. We need to bring about a change in this attitude! One possible solution to this problem is already under consideration i.e the health benefits which one reaps out of cycling. Although this solution is under consideration no substantial or promising outcome has yet been seen even in major cities like Mumbai!
Another interesting method to bring about a change in people is to lead the change. Nikita Lalwani, is the first bicycle Mayor in India and is a part of “The Bicycle Mayor Program”, a global initiative by decathlon to represent and accelerate the progress of cycling in cities. She quotes “I started Cycling really young. If you look at it, I've been cycling through different phases of my life mainly for commuting to school, to coaching classes, to work etc. In fact, from 3rd to 8th class, I went to school on my bike”. Mrs. Nikita is the mayor of Vadodara, a small city in Gujarat. The city has a circular structure and it is easy to find routes to your destination. She uses bicycle as her mode of transport 80% of the time and the results are amazing, she says. She recollects, “When I started working, for a year or more, I tried different types of commutes, auto, sometimes having my friends pick me up but soon realized that all these methods were taking me upto 15-20 minutes more for 4kms because of traffic jams. It was really very frustrating. In about a month's time, I got myself a bike and in a week my roommate got a cycle and a few more employees in my company started cycling too. A few more wanted to but all they needed was a push. This cycling to work culture had slowly started emerging in our office”.
I see the metros and the new highways coming up in our cities but basic traffic rules being broken, I see the new bullet train projects and hyperloop connecting two cities and reducing travel time but on the other hand the quality of air is being compromised. New factories, new industries, new companies shall come and go as it is part of development process and every country needs it, but at the same time it is our moral responsibility to take care of the environment around us and cycling is the least we could do to mitigate this problem! The outside world is going to change at a fast pace but at the same time there has to be a change among people from within!
As it is very well documented that Indians are by birth quite lazy beings, we just need a push and a motivation to overcome our laziness. Everything is possible if we channelize our mind in the right direction! A good way of doing this is to be part of pilot projects like “Gift a Cycle” initiative or involve yourself in local cycling club which organize Midnight cycling tours during peak seasons to develop an inquisitiveness towards cycling or you may develop friendship with such people who are cycling enthusiasts (like me). Jokes apart, traffic has become a serious issue in big cities like Mumbai & Bangalore and a better way of tackling this problem is to use alternative modes like these.
Special Mention:
A cycling app has been developed in Thane city by the name – ilovecycling, an initiative of the Thane Municipal Corporation. This initiative is laudable.
