Cyclists in Berhampur. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, March 1: Turn to bicycles when the roads are too bad for two- or four-wheelers. That’s the advice from city planners for residents of this city as they struggle to navigate traffic congestion.

“Separate lanes for bicycles and pedestrians need to be provided. Roads or paths, which are not suitable for motorized traffic, can benefit cyclists,” stated the City Development Plan (CDP) of Berhampur, prepared by Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad.

Bhim Manseth, commissioner of Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC), while welcoming the proposal to make Berhampur bicycle friendly, said BMC would not collect licence fees for bicycles.

“Siba Shankar Das, mayor of BMC, and I are planning not to collect licence fee for bicycles in Berhampur. We will move a resolution to this effect at our next BMC councillors’ meeting to take a final decision,” the commissioner said.

Narrow roads are an impediment to the smooth flow of traffic and separate paths for bicycles and pedestrians are the need of the hour. “We will try to implement the proposal,” Manseth said.

The CDP proposes to encourage people to take to bicycles by including local attractions, connection points to mass transit systems and restrooms on the city map.

It charts out strategies to promote bicycling through spreading the word, marketing campaigns and drives to make people consider bicycling.

Earlier, the employees and councillors of BMC were trying to encourage a return to bicycles to check pollution and to save fuel. They used to ride bicycles to reach the municipal office on every Monday during those days. Some of them even came on foot. Even councillors used to come to the municipal office on bicycles.

They had decided to lead by example after a resolution was passed by the Berhampur Municipal Corporation earlier. But the practice was abandoned later. BMC is again gearing up to reintroduce the concept.

“There are so many reasons to promote bicycling: health, environment, equality, safety, mobility and a better urban life. However we must have a separate lane on the road dedicated to cycles and make roads safer for bicycle users,” said 70-year-old Purna Chandra Mishra of Badakhemundi Street, who always rides bicycle wherever he goes.

The CDP is a reflection of the aspirations of city’s stakeholders and comprises of a vision for the city, a strategic action plan and city assistance programme.

In this context, the State Urban Development Agency (a state-level nodal agency), government of Orissa, has appointed ASCI, Hyderabad as consultant to prepare City Development Plans for three cities i.e. Cuttack, Berhampur and Sambalpur.