Hyderabad: Cyclists take part in multi-city Greenpeace event to 'light up' streets

Hyderabad: On Saturday evening citizens of Hyderabad participated in a nation-wide activity and lit up streets with their cycles as they demanded safer, more accessible Cities For Cyclists. Community members and cycling groups gathered in each city, decorated their bicycles with diyas, lamps, flowers and lights, and carried placards to celebrate cyclists as champions of equitable and sustainable cities. The event was organised by Greenpeace India in close collaboration with Green Pencil Foundation.

Trisha Panjala of Green Pencil Foundation commented, "We are participating in this activity to promote smart and sustainable mobility. We are witnessing high levels of pollution around us. If we look at mobility, then people have begun using motor vehicles for short distances too. We need to change our behaviour to reduce pollution. We can all see the climate changing, but many of us don't know why it is happening. Switching to cycles, especially for shorter distances helps to reduce pollution. It can help to protect our green spaces and fight climate change. That is the reason we are out here today."

Hundreds of cyclists and various organisations participated in the nation-wide activity that encouraged commuters to celebrate the spirit of the cyclists. A city for cyclists is after all a city for everybody. According to NFHS 2019-21, only 5.2 percent of families in Telangana own cars whereas 24 percent households own a bicycle. Bicycles help fight climate change, reduce air pollution and congestion, and provide a healthier mode of transport. Yet city mobility infrastructural plans continue to be largely car-centric.