For a pollution free Hyderabad

The second season of ‘Chak De India Ride’ is all set to be held on August 7. Ahead of the main event, the Hyderabad Bicycling Club (HBC), Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) and UN Habitat entered into a Tripartite MoU to provide first and last ‘Mile Connectivity’ to ‘Metro Rail Passengers’.

As per the MoU about 300 bike stations will be set up of which 63 will be at the forthcoming Metro Stations and the rest will be the feeder stations spread all over the city.

The MoU was signed between participating officials from the organisations on Thursday. About 10,000 bicycles will be positioned at these stations. The eco-friendly project is aimed at reducing vehicular pollution menace in the city.

Speaking on the occasion, DV Manohar, Chairman, Hyderabad Bicycling Club (HBC) said, “This project is serving as a catalyst for other centres to emulate.

It is being presented as a model project on how a smart city could be developed and sustained ‘at the Habitat III Conference’.”

Under the tripartate MoU signed, HMR will give the required support at metro stations and UN Habitat will help in accessing funds. HBC will establish and operate the project. The total cost of the project is Rs 100 crore.

NVS Reddy, MD, Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR), said, “Hyderabad used to be the capital of bicycles along with Amsterdam once upon a time.

The world has recognised to depend on public transport. Hyderabad should also become a good city and reduce pollution by taking to public transport and move to bicycles.”

“This MoU will go a long way to bring down the carbon present. The Government of Telangana is fully supporting this project. HMR will be the nodal agency for the project, which involves GHMC, HMDA,” he said.