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2 / 3 Cycle tracks near Sanjivani Hospital and Soham Towers are hardly used by citizens; these have turned into parking stands
3 / 3 Project called off as design was found to be faulty ; Pics: Ancela jamindar
Civic body had allocated Rs 22 crore for cycle tracks under Amrut Yojana; Rs 5.5 crore spent before grand plan is dropped; faulty design, parking of scooters on cycle tracks in Bodakdev, Jodhpur and 132-feet ringroad fail to serve purpose or evince response
The 10-year long experiment of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to set up cycle tracks across the city has failed miserably after spending crores of taxpayers’ money. The first cycle track was laid a decade ago along the BRTS corridor on the 132-feet Ringroad, between Keshav Baug and GMDC Ground via IIMA crossroads. Today, it is hardly used by cyclists and is a testament to an ill-conceived project.
The civic body allocated Rs 22.70 crore for the ambitious plan, out of which Rs 5.50 crore was spent to create three cycle tracks in Bodakdev. However, they are hardly used and have turned into parking stands for two-wheelers.
Not a single track constructed so far has managed to evince interest of dedicated cyclists. The project was started about a decade back with the intention of curbing air pollution and promoting a healthy lifestyle among citizens. Even the central government had allocated huge funds for the purpose under the Smart City project.
In 2019, AMC had approved a plan to construct a cycle track between Keshavbaug Party Plot and Pakwan Crossroads, Judges Bungalow Crossroads and NIFD Circle, and Sanjeevani Hospital to SG Highway Gurudwara.
The Rs 5.5 crore project envisaged an elaborate design of 7-metre carriage way, 2.40-metre on-street parking facility, 1.2-metre green patch, 1.80 metre footpath and 2-metre cycle track on either side of all the three roads.
However, lack of response and parking of vehicles on the cycle tracks forced the AMC to ditch the plan to set up similar facilities elsewhere. Sources said the design is faulty as light poles obstruct the track. Also, there are several society entrances along the entire stretch which makes it impractical for cyclists. They instead prefer to use the main road.
An AMC official said, “Rs 22.50 crore were to be spent under the Centre’s Amrut Yojana to construct cycle tracks. Rs 5.50 crore was spent and the rest of the project was shelved as the Centre did not pay the rest of the grant.”
However, top sources said the project was called off as the design was found to be faulty and it did not get a good response.
Former Leader of the Opposition in the AMC Kamla Chavda said, “Leaders of BJP-ruled AMC are not interested in bettering the lives of citizens. The use of cycles is maximum in the eastern parts of the city. However, the BJP leaders decided to set up cycle tracks in the western parts where cycles are hardly used. Their design is also faulty. The tracks have become redundant due to parking of vehicles over them. The entire plan has backfired and taxpayers’ money wasted.”
AMC Roads and Buildings Committee chairman Mahadev Desai could not be contacted for comments.
How it all started (and failed)
♦ In 2009-10, it was first proposed to build cycle tracks along the BRTS corridor. A track was constructed on the 132-feet Ringroad but it did not evince good response due to illegal parking on it. The project was not executed elsewhere.
♦ In 2015-16, Rs 6.5 crore was allocated under the street management parking project which included construction of
50-km long cycle tracks. Another 50-km track was envisaged in 2016-17. However, it was not executed.
♦ Under the Safe Route to School project announced in 2015-16, 100 schools were selected for construction of cycle tracks within their 200-metre vicinity to facilitate students in reaching the schools safely on their cycles. It was not executed.
♦ In 2019-20, AMC announced construction of a 3-km cycle track on Sola-Science City Road but it was dropped overnight by changing the design of
the road.
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