Hyderabad in finals of 'Cycles4Change Challenge'

Hyderabad: Two cities of Telangana —Warangal and Hyderabad have been selected by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in the stage - 1 finals of 'India Cycles4Change Challenge' for constructing specially designed cycling tracks on roads to promote cycling.

On Thursday, the Ministry launched the challenge on June 25 for all the Indian cities, capital cities of the states/union territories and smart cities. Around of 95 cities across the country have registered for the challenge out of which 25 cities have been selected for the Stage 1 finals.

The registered cities were challenged to undertake pilot projects, citizen surveys and participating in capacity-building workshops related to the challenge.

The India Cycles4Change aims to create an extensive cycling-network through low-cost interventions like pop-up cycle lanes and traffic-calmed non-motorised zone. Two cities of the Telangana state — Hyderabad and Warangal launched prgorammes such as community-led cycle rental schemes to increase the availability of cycles to citizens and promoted the usage of cycling through public events such as cycle rallies for awareness and outreach.

According to the concerned officials, in the first phase stage-1, 25 cities were shortlisted and selected by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Among them, the state capital Hyderabad and Warangal city were selected.

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and the Hyderabad Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (HUMTA) are providing technical advice and guidance in implementing the 'India Cycle 4 Change Challenges' programme under the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) jurisdiction, informed Arvind Kumar.

The HMDA and HUMTA in collaboration with the police department have built cycle lanes at Necklace Road, KBR Park and Nexus Road as part of the 'India Cycles 4 Change Challenge' with the support of the police department. It is likely to be a total 11-km long and being set up on either side of a freshly re-carpeted 5.5 km road on the banks of Hussain Sagar. These tracks will be specially designed for the cyclists to enjoy and feel their ride.