Car Free Thursday hits six month mark
Hyderabad has been the recipient of reduced pollution on roads and free-flowing traffic every Thursday for the past few months, thanks to the ‘Car Free Thursday’ initiative, which hit the six-month mark this Thursday.
If all goes according to plan, which is being backed by the Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad, CV Anand, the next phase of the campaign will have strict enforcement of carpooling, cycling and usage of bus
Hyderabad has been the recipient of reduced pollution on roads and free-flowing traffic every Thursday for the past few months, thanks to the ‘Car Free Thursday’ initiative, which hit the six-month mark this Thursday. Driven by HYSEA and SCSC in association with TSIIC, TSRTC, Cyberabad Police and many IT companies, the campaign is set to embark on the next phase that includes an effective Public/Private (PP) mechanism for which discussions are currently on with the government, specifically IT&C and the police.
In this regard, the Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad, CV Anand, has suggested a set of measures towards encouraging carpooling, cycling and usage of bus. In a letter to all member companies the Commissioner has proposed a set of measures to be a taken by individual IT Parks/ campuses, supported by strict enforcement in the IT corridor.
Some of the measures suggested include providing subsidised office bus transport, providing secure biking facilities, disallowing single driver cars into parks or campuses (morning half of the day) and transferring cost of parking management on to employees using private vehicles amongst others.
In a message on the occasion, Ramesh Loganathan, President, HYSEA and Managing Director, Progress Software said, “As we cross the six-month mark, all efforts are on to institutionalise the initiative to effect some lasting change and impact. The push from Commissioner Cyberabad, CV Anand is greatly appreciated and we hope will further help companies to encourage carpooling, cycling and usage of bus.”
The first phase of this initiative focused extensively on building awareness and enlisting volunteers. In addition to the traffic junction activities and corporate outreach, a sub campaign ‘one lakh hands’ was initiated, which worked on sensitising motor-vehicle users by way of letters from one-lakh school children.
