Lucknow: After promoting cycling in a big way by building cycle tracks and exempting cycles form VAT, the Akhilesh government is now preparing to install a 59-feet tall bicycle sculpture in the sprawling Janeshwar Misra Park in Lucknow.
The bicycle, incidentally, is also the election symbol of the ruling Samajwadi Party.
The bicycle sculpture will be made by Udham Singh of Allahabad who has earlier crafted an iron hammer weighing 3,500 kg and is better known as the ‘Hathoda (hammer) Boy’ now. The hammer was dedicated to the power of the youth.
Udham Singh has done his Masters in fine arts (MFA) from Allahabad University and it took him around seven months, along with a team of six boys, to craft the hammer.
The hammer weighs over 3,500 kg and this 21 feet high sculpture is 28 feet in its diameter (seven feet of each four sides from the hollow left for its handle). Udham Singh had taken a loan of Rs 3.5 lakh from a bank under PM Rozgar Yojna for this.
Talking on Friday, Udham Singh said that he was inspired by his father for whom the bicycle was one of his few prized possessions.
“From my childhood, I have seen cycle as the most useful mode of transport for the poor in rural India. Therefore, I thought of building a sculpture of cycle which represents the voice of the common man,” he said.
His proposed cycle sculpture would be 102 feet long and 59 feet high. The handle is 25 feet high. Made of steel, his sculpture would take around seven months to get completed. He has sought monetary help from the Chief Minister.
“The chief minister has agreed that the proposal is worth going ahead and has asked me to come back with a detailed project, mentioning in details the cost, design, material that would be used in it,” he said.
Interestingly, it was the Samajwadi Party that had objected to Ms Mayawati installing elephant statues in her parks since the elephant was the BSP symbol, but the party is now following in the same footsteps.
