KOCHI: It was a different experience for the city residents. Instead of lazing around on a Sunday morning, the city woke up to a festive mood on May 1. The first ‘happy streets day’, organised by Kochi Metro Rail Ltd. (KMRL) along with district administration and the city police, turned out to be a huge success. A section of the Shanmugham Road from High Court junction to Taj Gateway Hotel was closed for traffic and dedicated exclusively to pedestrians, cyclists and users of non-motorised transport (NMT).
More than 500 participants attended the first ‘happy street day’. They started celebrating in the street from 6.30 a.m. Along the safe zone, the public engaged in activities like fun run, walking, cycling, dancing and culture and community-building activities. In the venue set up at the Marine Drive, music and dance programmes were also organised.
Present at the event were district collector M.G. Rajamanickam, actor Nivin Pauly, Hibi Eden MLA, KMRL MD Elias George and Kerala Blasters coach Terry Phelan. Hundreds of people participated in the fun run flagged off by Nivin Pauly. The programme lasted till 10.30 am.
The objective of the programme is to rebuild the relationship among people as pedestrians and cyclists with Kochi, and enable them to realise the quality of life that could be obtained with less-aggressive traffic. The event will be organised on a regular basis, the organisers said. Though the concept is popular in other cities in the country, this is the first that such a programme was organised in Kerala.
