Hyderabad, 24th April, 2018: The World Cycling Alliance, Brussels which has been extensively lobbying for a World Bicycle Day, announced that the United Nations has accepted its request unanimously and declared June 3rd as International World Bicycle Day. The resolution was adopted by a consensus of 193 Member States on April 12th 2018, during the 72nd Regular Session of the UN General Assembly, in New York City. The declaration invites all Member States and relevant stakeholders to celebrate and promote awareness of Cycling on the World Bicycle Day. The declaration encourages Member States to devote particular attention to the bicycle in their development strategies and to include the bicycle in international, national, subnational and regional development policies and programmes. Mr Manfred Neun, President, World Cycling Alliance (WCA), Brussels, also announced Mr D V Manohar, being designated as the Vice-president of the WCA, he was a Board Member of WCA till now.
Speaking to the Media, Mr D V Manohar, the only Indian on the Board of World Cycling Alliance, Brussels, said “I am delighted to share the above much awaited news with you. We, the World Cycling Alliance (WCA) and the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) have been campaigning for a UN designated World Bicycle Day since 2016. I have contributed considerably through the World Cycling Alliance to convince the UN to have a day dedicated to cycling. We are very glad that our efforts are rewarded. This declaration will give huge impetus to cycling all over the World, akin to what we have seen in the case of yoga. He further mentioned that All India Bicycling Federation (AIBF) in association with Smartbike Mobility Pvt Ltd will be organizing various cycling events across India on 3rd June to celebrate World Bicycle Day, the largest cycling event being in New Delhi. Incidentally June 3rd this year is a Sunday and hope to see many Indians joining in the mega event across the country.
Mr Manfred Neun the President and Mr Bernhard Ensink, Secretary General of World Cycling Alliance spoke to the Media over skype and expressed their happiness on the culmination of the tireless efforts over the last two years. Dr. Bernhard Ensink stated “Cycling is a source for social, economic and environmental benefits – and it is bringing people together. WCA and ECF are extremely happy with this declaration. He said we will mark the day with 100,000 people riding Bicycle at Berlin.” Mr Manfred Neun said that “the UN declaration gives a further boost to our efforts to promote cycling all over the world. This is a great acknowledgment by the UN that Cycling delivers on Global Goals. We will see more governments investing in cycling.”
Speaking on cycling in India Mr D V Manohar mentioned that he feels very happy to note that cycling is gaining a lot of momentum in India and will revolutionise the way we move in future. AIBF and Hyderabad Bicycling Club (HBC) along with SmartBike are the spearheading the PBS revolution in India.
Mr Dharmin Dontamsetti, Co Founder of Smartbike Mobility Pvt Ltd who was also present at the Press Conference said that Smartbike Mobility Pvt Ltd started its Assembly Plant recently which is the first assembly plant for Public Bike Sharing Bicycles in India. The bicycles are assembled in India with components imported from Germany. In due course the company has plans to manufacture as many components as possible in India and import only the critical components from its collaborator in Germany. He further mentioned that the response for the SmartBike PBS System is increasing by the day with more and more people registering every day.
