Hyderabad: Hyderabad and Secunderabad are not cities made for bicyclists. Bicycles remain the domain of enthusiasts and seldom look a legitimate means of commuting in the cities. Users complain that they feel unsafe and unwelcome on the roads, and that the government is doing nothing to encourage them.
Indeed, there is very little cycle-centric infrastructure in the city. There are no places where cyclists can ride without running into vehicular traffic or pedestrians. Even in the newly-developed IT corridor, there are no cycling tracks.
There was one two-kilometre long track running from Biodiversity junction to Mindspace, but that too was removed for the construction of a flyover. Narsi Reddy, a resident of Tarnaka, and an avid cyclist for years, says, “No one in my family wants me to ride my bike anywhere. They fear someone vehicle will hit me.”
He said he rides only early in the mornings, in secluded and smooth bylanes and avoids the main roads altogether. “I work at a software company in Uppal. I could ride there every day if I want but the Tarnaka main road seems too dangerous for this,” he said.
Kiran Chowdhary, an IT employee staying in KPHB, said, “I have always loved riding my bike. But riding to work in Gachibowli is impossible. Two-wheeler riders never give us any space on the road or even at signals.”
Multiple cyclists that spoke to Deccan Chronicle complained that the GHMC seems uninterested in making their lives easier. They said there has been no work towards making the roads cycle-friendly.
Ashok from Madhapur complains, “No thought is being put into this. For instance, a few years ago there was a track near Biodiversity junction. What was its purpose? Where was it leading to? The starting point was not a residential area and the end point wasn’t near office complexes. Development is happening in pieces.”
Many cyclists also said the government could organise outreach programmes to make the general public aware of cycling. They asked for children to be encouraged to use bicycles. This would encourage them to ride cycles when they are adults as well, they said. D.V. Manohar, chairman of Smartbike Mobility, and head of the Hyderabad bicycling club, said cycling was far too important to ignore. “It is well-known how poisonous the air is. And it is entirely due to pollution by motor vehicles. Cycles are a great solution to this problem,” he said.
