On Day One of Unlock 1, traffic was back to being busy in Ranchi on Tuesday with several shops on Main Road opening in accordance with the state government’s guidelines. There was heartburn among a section of traders, especially garment shop owners, who could not resume business after two months of lockdown as per state government guidelines.
But Tuesday seemed a good day to raise a toast to the humble, but agile bicycle. “The bicycle was the most useful vehicle during the lockdown and will remain so even after it is totally lifted,” wrote Kanishka Poddar in an email to The Telegraph Online.
Poddar, appointed “Bicycle Mayor” of Ranchi last year by BYCS, an Amsterdam (Netherlands)-based organisation that promotes cycling, also sent a photograph (first in the series) to commemorate Wednesday, June 3 as World Bicycle Day at the behest of the United Nations General Assembly.
During the lockdown Poddar had written to chief minister Hemant Soren to promote the bicycle as a reliable mode of transportation. Not only is it conducive for social distancing, bicycles promote fitness and are non-polluting, he noted.
A sweet shop prepares its most sought-after goodies in Ranchi on Tuesday.
Manob ChowdhuryThe bicycle: ever useful.
Courtesy Kanishka PoddarA jewellery shop that opened in Ranchi on Tuesday in the hope of seeing some buyers.
Manob ChowdhuryWatch shops on Main Road were among those that opened after the two-month long lockdown on Tuesday.
Manob Chowdhury