Governor Narasimhan inaugurates Bike Station at Gachibowli, Hyderabad

Hon’ble Governor Sri ESL Narasimhan inaugurates Gachibowli Bike station & flags off a colorful bicycle rally!

Ministers Dr Geeta Reddy & Mr Maheedhar Reddy, Mayor Mr Majid Hussain, & President, European Cycling Federation Mr Manfred Neun, participate in the event.

Hyderabad, September 29th, 2013: Hon’ble Governor of Andhra Pradesh, H.E. Sri E S L Narasimhan formally inaugurated the state-of-the-art Bike Station at Gachibowli, set up jointly by GHMC, APIIC, HMR & Hyderabad Bicycling Club (HBC) and flaged off a colourful and massive bicycling rally - Bicyclone 2013, on Sunday at Gachibowli. Dr Geeta Reddy, Minister for Major Industries; Mr Maheedhar Reddy, Minister for Municipal Administration; Mr Majid Hussain, Mayor, GHMC; Mr Manfred Neun, President, European Cycling Federation; GHMC, Commissioner, Mr. M.T. Krishna Babu, IAS, Commissioner, GHMC; Mr Rahul Bojja , IAS, ED, APIIC; Mr NVS Reddy, MD, Hyderabad Metro Rail; Mr. D. V. Manohar, Chairman, Hyderabad Bicycling Club & Past Chairman, CII and Mr. M. Ramakrishna, Vice Chairman, Hyderabad Bicycling Club, were present on the occasion.

The HBC’s Gachibowli Bike Station (Opp., Bio Diversity Complex) has been built by GHMC, while Hyderabad Metro Rail contributed 300 bicycles to be positioned in this Bike Station. Gachibowli Bike Station is fully enclosed and has rest rooms for ladies and gents and provision for snacks & beverages counter. It has well landscaped parks on either side and newly laid cemented approach roads.

Speaking on the occasion H.E. Governor Sri E S L Narasimhan, said this is a unique moment in the history of Hyderabad and encouraging cycle to work is a laudable initiative. He wanted Cyberabad to become Cycle city. My dream is to see that this 60 kms stretch will not have any pollution causing vehicles and for those who can’t ride bicycles solar powered vehicles should be made available to commute here. Keep expanding cycling tracks and reduce motor traffic in the area. More and more people should be encouraged to go for bicycles.

Mr. Krishna Babu, thanked Governor for the road map he has proposed and promised to work with all stake holders to accomplish the task. We have requested IT companies to encourage their employees to commute by bicycles by providing incentives to them.

Mr Manfred Neun said, the enthusiasm of all involved in this initiative is impressive. All stake holders should invest in bicycling, even prominent cycling nations like Netherlands are reinvesting in cycling. We are looking at an alliance with Hyderabad Bicycling Club, he said.

Bicyclone 2013 was a colorful bicycle rally with over 1000 cyclists participating. HBC organised fully supported rides of 10 kms, 25 kms and 60 kms, with provision for snack and water stations at regular intervals, road marshals, enroute signage, ambulance etc.

This initiative would provide tremendous impetus to the ‘CYCLE TO WORK’ initiative HBC has aggressively taken up along with APIIC, GHMC, Hyderabad Metro Rail, Police, CII GBC & Corporates and major organizations in Cyberabad, says Mr. Manohar. Though the landscape of Cyberabad has been rapidly transforming into an international city, the pollution levels primarily due to vehicular pollution has been a major cause for concern. Therefore there is an imperative need to promote “cycle to work” which would substantially reduce the pollution levels while contributing to better physical well being of the commuters, opines Mr. Manohar

To make “Cycle to Work” safe and comfortable, HBC along with GHMC, APIIC and HMR are in the process of creating all the required infrastructure such as exclusive cycling tracks criss crossing Cyberabad and covering the important areas, Bike Stations at MMTS and other requisite places where geared bicycles would be available for the usage of the commuters etc. Office bound commuters getting down at the Hi-tech city MMTS can borrow a bicycle from the Bike Station at the MMTS and cycle down to their work place and return the bike while commuting back to catch the train. The Bike Stations would be managed by the Hyderabad Bicycling Club who are pioneers in the same, adds Mr. Manohar.

Brief on Hyderabad Bicycling Club (HBC): HBC emerged as the World’s largest Cycling Club on ‘Meetup’ overtaking the Denver Cycling Club, USA to achieve the same. We have grown four times in the last two years to reach the present membership strength of over 4000 members. HBC first Bike Station at Necklace Road is a big hit and the initiatives of Necklace Road being an exclusive cycling zone between 5 to 7 am and rides inside Sanjeevaiah Park in the evening resulted in more and more people taking to cycling. HBC introduced several innovations and numerous rides to promote cycling in a big way. HBC’s product Aditya Mehta won two silver medals for India in the Asian Para Cycling Championships recently. HBC successfully participated in the grueling London to Paris Cycle Challenge twice in the years 2011 & 2013.