Separate cycle track hain! Toh?

Recent studies have shown that commuting by walking and cycling is only 31 per cent. Though there is a separate track for the cyclists in the city, there aren’t many takers for it. It is being used more as a parking spot rather than a cycling track.

It’s not even a month since the bike station at Gachibowli was launched by the who’s who of Hyderabad amidst much fanfare. A four metre separate track was marked from Gachibowli Station to Cyber Towers, Hitec City to facilitate easy movement for cyclists, away from traffic hassles. Many lauded this initiative as the first step in curbing the increasing levels of pollution in the city. On the inaugural day, the dignitaries called upon the denizens to make cycle their necessary mode of transport. But, their appeals have fallen on deaf ears.

There are not many takers to this cycle track. Infact, one usually finds the track empty and being used by cabs and other vehicles as a parking spot. The vehicles block the cyclists, ever if there was one.

The traffic is so dense in the city that one can’t walk and ride his cycle without hesitation. Recent studies by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), shows that compared to other cities, Hyderabad has less footpaths and even lesser cycle usage. People in the city use cycle for travelling about 8km on average per day and only 31 per cent of the commuting is done via cycling and walking.

Earlier people used to blame lack of special tracks for cyclists as the reason. But, when the track is in the place, it had very few takers. The studies also say that about 70% of the footpaths in the city are encroached. These are believed to be the reasons for less patronage towards walking and cycling.

While commenting over the issue, Chairman of Hyderabad Bicycling Club, D V Manohar, said, “This has been brought to our notice few days earlier. The timings of the bike stations are from 5am -8 am and between 4pm -9pm. In between and at wee hours, we deploy security personnel to check and stop such kind of an illegal activity. But parking in cycling tracks peaks at noon and for this, I believe that the traffic police department must do something. CV Anand, Cyberabad Police Commissioner had promised support while we launched the bike station. We hope they will do their part as well.”

Road safety experts and NGOs have often voiced that not enough was done for pedestrians and cyclists while widening the roads and imposing traffic rules. Their concerns were based over the state of affairs on 38 routes in Kolkata where cycles and rickshaws have been banned and blamed for the slow movement of traffic. We usually hear reports that there is increase in number of accidents due to motor vehicles. The studies showed that no such incidents were observed with cyclists.

“Using cycles has not been embraced by people in the city but in Davis, USA there are 14 cycles for every 10 people. They not only help curb pollution but are also best for exercise. Hyderabad Central University in this case stands out as there is about 90 per cent of cycle usage in the campus, so is the case with IIT Madras. The population of city is 70 lakh even if 10 lakh people do ride cycles for 10km, that would be 1 cr kms, imagine the amount of fuel that would be saved and the impact of less pollution,” said Sampath, an IT professional.

“There are separate tracks in foreign countries. That is not the case here. One track alone cannot serve the purpose, there should be more. Walking and using cycles are poor man’s mode of transport. These modes should be encouraged,” says Kantimathi Kannan, founder of Right to Walk Foundation.