Time to seek solutions for cities, not individuals
India has demonstrated extraordinary exclusion of non-motorised forms of transport for several years. Most significant is our love for flyovers. Apart from the argument that these don’t reduce congestion, the reality few ever discuss is that cyclists and cycle rickshaws find it enormously challenging to navigate flyovers.
Please don’t think of the Kolkata ban on cycles and hand carts as something out of the blue.
India has demonstrated extraordinary exclusion of non-motorised forms of transport for several years. Most significant is our love for flyovers. Apart from the argument that these don’t reduce congestion, the reality few ever discuss is that cyclists and cycle rickshaws find it enormously challenging to navigate flyovers. Yet, many of our cities are full of flyovers.
In Delhi, the middle class decides policy via advocating self-entitlement. The BRT in south Delhi by the previous chief minister was disliked by most car users, because it slowed them down. No discussions and meeting was attempted. Slowly, the cycle lane was violated, the BRT eventually dismantled. This was despite a history of air pollution and knowledge that public transport should be top priority.
Decisions like this set the national tone. They create an atmosphere of normalising exclusion. The Bengal government’s decision on cycles was partly possible because the middle class historically doesn’t support the hard measures required for green shifts. Let’s educate ourselves about our own towns, our transportation and seek the solutions that support cities, not individuals. We must keep what works, learn to pedestrianise and re-prioritise and design cities.
(The writer is Founder and Director, Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group)
