E-Paper
No-vehicle Sunday gives Bavdhan residents a fresh breath of life
These eager bicyclists had chosen to leave their motorised vehicles at home and chose instead to spend the Sunday riding their cycles instead.
PUNE Hundreds of orange vests flying in a slightly chilly breeze greeted morning traffic on the sloping lanes of Bavdhan in Pune.
These eager bicyclists had chosen to leave their motorised vehicles at home and chose instead to spend the Sunday riding their cycles instead.
It is all part of a pledge initiated by the Bavdhan Citizens’ Forum, a group of residents, who started the novel idea “No Vehicle Sunday”, on the first Sunday of every month.
At least 180 residents from Bavdhan and the adjoining areas joined in to pledge to keep their roads free of motorised vehicles on this Sunday.
The group had organized their first “no-vehicle Sunday” on November 1 with 30 residents, but by their second drive, held on December 6, saw 180 people including, the four corporators, show up to support this initiative.
“The idea is to give people a chance to live life breathing fresh air instead of the daily pollution caused by heavy traffic on this road, which is a crucial road connecting Kothrud and Pashan,” said Dushyant Bhatia, resident and member of the Bavdhan Citizens’ Forum.
“We appeal to people to avoid the use of vehicles using social media,” he added.
Rudra Khandelwal is an eager bicyclist living in Kothrud. He brought his friends along with their bicycles to join this initiative. “I got to know from my friends in Bavdhan about this idea and thought this could be a great way to remain fit and also bring friends together,” said Khandelwal.
Jyoti Loharkar and her little daughter Smruti, residents of Bavdhan, walked 2.6km while the cyclists cycled for 5km through the lanes of Bavdhan.
“I like walking and so does my daughter but I am afraid of the traffic on the roads, but this idea is very good. When we stop using our vehicles, we are helping keep space for pedestrians and also enjoying fresh air,” said Loharkar.
Corporators Dilip Vedepatil, Kiran Dagade Patil, Alpana Varpe and Shradha Prabhune too joined in walk and showed their support for the residents’ initiative.
Vedepatil said, “This is a good initiative and will help reduce pollution caused by large number of vehicles on this road, especially on Sunday, when families drive to the shops for groceries.”
“The aim is to make Bavdhan clean and one of best suburbs in the city, that is our motto and we will keep going on until we convince people to leave their vehicles at home on Sunday,” said C S Krishnan, resident of Bavdhan.
