Pic Courtesy: Xtratime
Kolkata: August 27 marked as a special day for the cyclists of Kolkata when they voiced out their demand for a dedicated cycle lane in EM Bypass.
Maybe they are not athletes; maybe they will not represent the state or the nation in the field of sports. On a daily basis, some maybe fish or milk vendors, school goers, office goers or normal commutators’. But the thing that links all of these people together is ‘cycle’. In the age of Environmental concern’s and health concern’s cycle has a huge role to play in one’s life.
According to recent trends we tend to follow or copy things happening in Western countries and other parts of the globe. However in this case we haven’t copied anything which is related to cycling. Apart from it being a global sport, cycling has been a major mode of transport in various countries whose aim is to go for a ‘Greener Environment’.
After struggling a lot, the EM Bypass got a lane dedicated only for cycles in 2011. However though the lane exists in only pen and paper, no such lane exists in the reality. Either those lanes come handy for ‘Parking Lots’ or for ‘Service Lanes’ of cars. Along with these obstacles, a cyclist has to face numerous harassments of the Police when they are fined for Rs 100 and the receipt comes in a blank white paper.
As a mark of protest almost 170 cyclists made a rally of 14.5kms from Patuli Fire Brigade Crossing to Ultadanga and all the way back. The main cause of the rally was provision of a separate cycle lane in the EM Bypass. Various placards and slogans were demonstrated by people of all ages from ten to sixty, male and female all having the same demand of a cycle lane.
“We want two dedicated cycle lanes which have been sanctioned, but to be issued fast. We often face harassments from the Police who charges fines without giving proper receipts. Sometimes Police even remove air from the tires. For us the awareness has increased. We have already approached both Subhendu Adhikary and Firad Hakim for the above issue” said Samik Sarkar a daily cycle passenger.
As per Subhayan Das Gupta, the protest will continue till the cycle lanes are issued.
“Every day we have to face many problems while travelling by cycle. So we want designated cycle stands beside every Metro Stops. We will continue the protest till our demands are met. If such a circumstance arrives we will also approach the Chief Minister” said Rubiya Mondal.