Bengaluru and Warangal are among ‘India’s top 11 cycling pioneers’ awarded by the Union government as part of the Cycles4Change Challenge. The selected cities will receive Rs 1 crore each to scale up their cycling initiatives, announced Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), via an online event held on Wednesday, July 28. A jury comprising national and international transport experts selected the 11 cities out of the 25 shortlisted places. Other cities to make it to the list include Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Kohima, New Town Kolkata, Pimpri Chinchwad, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara.
Bengaluru and Warangal are the only two south Indian cities to be awarded the title. As part of its plan for the challenge, pop-up cycle lanes and other permanent infrastructure were put in place by agencies like Bengaluru Smart City Limited and the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT). As per the initiative, in the first phase, cities worked towards engaging with citizens to test innovative, inexpensive, and quick ideas to remove barriers to cycling. “2020 ignited India’s cycling revolution. Cities and citizens joined hands for the first time, to test, learn, and scale up ideas to become cycling havens. I encourage more cities to join the cycling revolution and work towards a cycling-friendly future,” said Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA.
Additionally, the first challenge report documenting highlights of the cities' cycling journey, and the next stage of the challenge were launched at the event. In the upcoming second stage of the challenge, the cohort of the top 25 cities will advance to the next stage where they are set to adopt policies, set up dedicated departments and create city-wide plans in order to scale up the cycling initiatives.
The second season of the India Cycles4Change challenge is expected to start from August, wherein the remaining 82 cities, not part of the second stage, along with other cities that register for the next season will be brought up to speed. Going forward the aim is to transform the national programme into a city-led but community-driven movement and lead the cycling revolution, read an official release by the MoHUA.