The year-long Cycle2Work campaign in Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi will begin this month.

Calcutta-based NGO SwitchON Foundation has got support from the state’s corporates and PSUs in starting the campaign.

Sharing this news on Friday marked as theInternational Cycle to Work Day, SwitchON Foundation, which has been working in the environment sector in eastern states, in a statement said: “Leading corporates and PSUs in Ranchi like Coal India, CMPDIL, Hindalco Industries, Eureka Forbes Limited, Methodex Systems etc have lend support in taking forward ‘Cycle2Work’ campaign.”

The statement further informed that around 70 corporate houses and PSUs have already sent a letter of support to SwitchON Foundation for the campaign not only in Ranchi but also in Calcutta and Bhubaneswar (Odisha’s capital).

“SwitchON Foundation will actively engage in providing technical assistance to companies and also the city authorities to make the city safe for cycling and to make companies equipped for encouraging cycling. This can be done by providing a proper cycle rack, changing area, a bathing area wherever possible, rewarding programmes, incentive programmes etc. We will bring in experts from Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and link in government departments for the success of the campaign,” the statement added.

This initiative aims to encourage a significant shift from motorised commuting to cycling. After the successful onboarding of the companies, the next step will be to register for the National Campaign Cycle2Work.

The Cycle2work campaign was started by ITDP last year.

SwitchON Foundation MD Vinay Jaju said: “We are really happy to see the response and support from different corporates and institutions for the Cycle2Work initiative. Cycle2Work is a simple yet effective way in which citizens can contribute to the environmental well-being of our plant.

“Cycling will reduce air pollution and ease traffic congestion, addressing the climate emergency our planet is facing today.”

As per National Family Health Survey(NFHS-5), in Jharkhand around 66.3% of the households own a bicycle.

“It is a pretty good percentage. This gives Ranchi an edge in adopting a cycling culture in the city. SwitchOn Foundation will work with the companies that are supporting the campaign and encourage them to support infrastructure in work space and promote sustainable mobility of cycles for work, building infrastructure in the form of bicycle parking, showers etc for their employees opting for cycling to work would encourage cyclists to travel,” added Jaju.

Senior associate ITDP, Aangi Shah, said: “Cycle2Work is a great initiative that encourages employees to use cycling as a mode of commute — to improve health and support the environment. Many cities across the country have already rolled out the Cycle2Work Campaign — an initiative by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs such as Silvassa, Rajkot, New Town Kolkata and Surat.”

“As more cyclists use the streets for commute, the city must invest in and create the right systems i.e building safe, comfortable cycling tracks and footpaths which are continuous and connected by a network, planning traffic calming measures for the safety of the cyclists and adopting the right policies to scale up such work,” added Shah.