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| Bicycle is the common man’s ride | | |  Ramesh Sarraf Dhamora
Bicycle is by far the most efficient means of converting human energy into mobility. Bicycles are widely used for transportation, recreation and sports. Bicycles are essential for transporting people and goods in areas where fewer vehicles are available. Cycling reduces air pollution and provides full body exercise. In such a situation, the importance of World Bicycle Day is to promote the use of bicycles among all people of the society and to encourage cycling at the national and local level to strengthen physical and mental health well-being.
The first World Bicycle Day was celebrated on June 3, 2018. Since then, Bicycle Day has been celebrated every year in the world. This time we are celebrating the seventh World Bicycle Day. The United Nations had announced to celebrate World Bicycle Day to promote it as a common, cheap, reliable, clean and environmentally friendly means of transport. On 12 June 1817, Baron Karl von Drais introduced the world’s first bicycle in Mannheim, Germany. It was made of wood and had no pedals, gears or chains. It pushed itself first with one foot and then with the other. He called it Laufmaschine (running machine in German). Now, students in Japan’s Fukuoka city have made a bicycle that runs on air.
The bicycle has played a very important role in India’s economic progress. Since independence, the bicycle has been an essential part of the country’s transport system. Especially from 1960 to 1990, most families in India had a bicycle. It was the most powerful and economical means of personal transport. In villages, farmers used to take vegetables and other crops to weekly markets by bicycle. Milk was supplied from villages to nearby town markets by bicycle. The entire system of the postal department ran on the basis of bicycles. Even today, postmen deliver letters by bicycle. After China, even today India is the country that manufactures the most bicycles in the world.
Most of the modern infrastructure being developed in India is being built to provide facilities to motor vehicles. Environmentally friendly vehicles like bicycles are being ignored. Whereas bicycles have an important place in urban and rural transport. Especially for the low-income group people, bicycles are a cheap, accessible and essential means of earning their livelihood. This is also because the low-income group people of India are not able to spend Rs 100-50 per day from their earnings on transport.
Children first learn to ride a bicycle. That is why we all have ridden a bicycle in our childhood. In earlier times, a person who had a bicycle was considered a very prestigious person. Whenever the villagers used to go to the cities, they used to see people riding bicycles and then they themselves used to gradually learn to ride a bicycle. Earlier, bicycles were also available on rent in cities.
The young generation of the country has now started liking motorcycles more than bicycles. The hobby of motorcycles was increasing in the cities. Changes in this matter had started in villages as well. Despite this, the importance of bicycles in India has not ended. Since 1990, there has been an increase in the sale of bicycles. But its sale has declined in rural areas. In fact, the role that bicycles had before 1990. Motorcycles have replaced it in villages. Even after this, bicycles are still an integral part of our lives.
During the lockdown in the country, lakhs of people who went to earn in other states reached their homes by covering a distance of 1000-1500 kilometers on bicycles. In times of crisis, bicycles became the only means to reach their homes. By becoming the most useful means of reaching home for lakhs of people during the lockdown, people understood well that bicycles are still the cheapest and most accessible means of transport for common people.
Now, expensive bicycles equipped with gears equipped with various types of features have come in the market. Earlier, people used to have only normal bicycles. Which had a carrier at the back. On which a person used to keep his luggage and make another person sit if needed. Many times, 3 people used to ride on a bicycle by making their companion sit on the rod in front. The bicycle did not cause any kind of pollution in the environment. There was also no problem of filling petrol. One could just pick up the bicycle, pedal and reach the next destination. In earlier times, a small light used to be attached to the front of the bicycle. Its dynamo was attached to the rear tyre. The faster the cyclist rode the bicycle, the brighter the light would be.
In 2020, on the day of World Bicycle Day, India’s largest bicycle manufacturing company Atlas was shut down. The bicycle industry has suffered a major setback due to the closure of Atlas, India’s largest and world-renowned company, which produces 40 lakh bicycles every year. Due to the closure of Atlas’ factory, about a thousand people working there became unemployed. Atlas Bicycle Company was established in 1951. It had an alliance with many foreign bicycle manufacturing companies. Due to which the bicycles of Atlas Company were counted among the best bicycles around the world. Due to increasing pollution, cycling is being promoted in many countries of the world. Only cycling is allowed in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. In India too, safe cycle lanes have been constructed in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh. In Uttar Pradesh too, Asia’s longest bicycle highway of 200 km has been built. Right now there is a strong need to develop bicycle roads in proportion to the cyclists in the country. From the viewpoint of environmental protection, the return of bicycles in the countries of the world can be considered a good sign from the viewpoint of environment.
The Government of India can inspire common and special people to ride bicycles by making some necessary basic improvements in its bicycle transport system. All those people can get inspiration from this step of the government. Whose average daily travel distance is around five to seven kilometers. Many state governments of our country are distributing bicycles in large numbers to their school students. Due to which the number of cyclists has increased. According to ‘The Energy and Research Institute’, in the last decade, the number of cyclists has increased from 43 percent to 46 percent in rural areas. Whereas in urban areas this number has come down from 46 percent to 42 percent. The main reason for this has been found to be the unsafe nature of cycling.
Now the time has come to encourage cycling on a large scale in cities and villages. So that the increasing pollution can be stopped to some extent. Dedicated bicycle routes should be constructed in cities. We should not look upon World Bicycle Day as a mere symbolic exercise. Today we should take a pledge in our mind that we will complete our daily tasks by bicycle. Only then will celebrating Bicycle Day be successful in the true sense.
(The author is a freelance journalist recognized by the Rajasthan Government) |
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