Gurgaon: You enjoyed your cycling and aerobics on Gurgaon’s roads on Raahgiri Days every Sunday now get ready to walk and cycle to your office every Tuesday beginning September 22, the world no car day.
In a bid to encourage people to use alternative modes of transport, Millennium City will now observe car-free day every Tuesday from 7 am to 7 pm.
Gurgaon’s four major corridors – DLF Cyber City, Cyber Park area, Golf Course Road and Electronic City in Udyog Vihar-IV – have been identified to focus on the campaign.
The idea is to give an experience of car-free streets to the people and persuade them to use sustainable modes of transport. It will save an average of 2.6 kg of greenhouse gas emissions per person per day.
According to Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Bharti Arora, police would not allow on-street parking on the four corridors to ensure space for people to walk and cycle.
Arora pledged to walk to her workplace on the first car-free day which coincides with World Car-Free Day.
Several corporate houses also pledged support to the initiative and they would urge their employees to shun cars and try alternative modes of transport such as buses, metro or even car-pooling.
“The objective is to put across the idea that more cars could not be afforded on roads,” Arora said.
Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) and a private company Shuttl.com have agreed to provide shuttle services on car-free days at major metro stations like HUDA City Centre, Sikanderpur, IndusInd Cyber City and Kapashera border for the major IT hubs. MCG also promised to provide cycles while HUDA promised to repair all roads in Gurgaon.
As per estimates, 60,000-65,000 cars ply on Netaji Subhash Marg, Cyber City, Golf Course Road and the Udyog Vihar-IV every day.
At least three lakh employees are working in Gurgaon’s corporate sector. While this is a great idea for a city that needs cleaner air and open public spaces but the big question is without alternatives can Gurgaon pass the no car test.