Pedalling for health on World Bicycle Day
NEWDELHI: Marking World Bicycle Day on Sunday, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) organised a ‘mega cycle’ rally at Connaught Place to encourage Delhiites to ditch their private vehicles and use cycles for shorter trips.
The event that saw the participation of thousands of cyclists and environment activists was inaugurated by vice-president Venkaiah Naidu in the presence of Union minister of science and technology Harsh Vardhan, minister of state for parliamentary affairs Vijay Goel, Member of Parliament Meenakshi Lekhi and Miss World Manushi Chhillar.
“Cycling is the best and cheapest form of exercise to keep yourself healthy. The campaign to promote the use of bicycle must be taken up on a sustained basis and it should not be confined to a ritualistic exercise on World Bicycling Day,” Naidu told the gathering of cyclists and environmentalists at a bicycle rally on the first official World Bicycle Day, as designated by the United Nations.
He also inaugurated the council’s ‘ smart cycle’ initiative, which is a public bike sharing ser- vice that will be available at 50 locations with at least 500 bikes on rent.
“Such cycle rental services should be available across the city and also in other states. Dedicated cycling tracks should be created and people should be encouraged to pedal to maintain their health,” Naidu said.
Naidu reiterated that the World Bicycle Day should not be seen as a mere symbolic exercise and said that cycling addresses more pressing problems.
“Bicycling will greatly help in reducing adverse health outcomes. Apart from burning calo- ries, strengthening muscles and promoting fitness, cycling daily will reduce the risk of heart diseases and cancer,” he said.
NDMC chairperson Naresh Kumar said these bicycles are integrated with GPS and smart locking systems thorough which these cycles will automatically get locked as soon as it is taken beyond the NDMC area.
The bike sharing facility will be available at ₹10 for 30 minutes and ₹300 for using the services for over eight hours. This will also be available on subscription basis which will be ₹199 for a week to ₹1,999 for a year.