Ruskin Bond, Mohandas Pai, other eminent personalities call for lifting ban on cycles from 64 Kolkata roads

The #BringBackCycles campaign was launched by non-profit organisation SwitchON Foundation to urge the Chief Minister of West Bengal to lift the ban on cycles. (Image: SwitchON Foundation)

Several eminent personalities from various walks of life including Economist Jean Dreze, filmmaker Aparna Sen, authors Ruskin Bond, and Amitav Ghosh, and actor Dia Mirza have endorsed a call for lifting the ban on bicycles from 64 arterial roads in Kolkata.

The #BringBackCycles campaign was launched by non-profit organisation SwitchON Foundation to urge the Chief Minister of West Bengal to lift the ban on cycles.

They wrote an open letter addressing CM Mamata Banerjee, which has already been endorsed by several prominent personalities across the country, such as TMC MP professor Saugata Roy, Singers Usha Uthup, Anupam Roy, Clinical Director of Oncology Dr Suman Mallick, Photojournalist Raghu Rai, filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, and Padma Shri awardee Mohandas Pai.

The letter read: "21-year-old Moina Majhi, coming from a small town in the South 24 Parganas, comes to work as a house help in three houses in East Kolkata Township every day. Cycling being the sole mode of transportation for her, with restrictions across several routes she uses to commute, it has become extremely difficult for Moina to use her cycle to travel and save some of her commuting time. In Kolkata, daily about 25 Lakhs cycle trips are made in the city by people coming from all walks of society."

It added: "Cycles can increase the income of poor families by as much as 35 percent (TERI, 2018)."

Notably, cycles were banned in these Kolkata roads citing two issues - they cause safety hazards on the roads and slow down vehicular movement.

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Since Kolkata has been grappling with severe air pollution issues (ranks 25th among 1,100 most polluted cities globally, as per a 2-19 report by the World Health Organization), bicycles, which are a zero-emission mode of transport, would aid in bringing down pollution level.

Speaking about the same, Trinamool MP Saugata Roy said: "I am all for cycles. I want cycles back on the roads of Kolkata. This would reduce pollution and save fuel. All over Europe, cycles are a new rage. Let cycles come back. Our party MPs went by cycle to Parliament on the first day of the Monsoon session."

Echoing him, writer Ruskin Bond said: "Cycles are making a comeback in cities across the world. They don't pollute the atmosphere. They don't cause traffic jams. We need them in Kolkata and every other town and cities."

TV Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Aarin Capital Partners also pointed out how countries across the world are in fact encouraging citizens to cycle by creating separate cycling lanes. He added: "Kolkata should lead India in making cycling more popular, not perpetuate a feudal order focused on automobiles alone."