01/12/2019
In picture: NH12, Hoshangabad Road
The Madhya Pradesh government, in 2017, launched a one-of-a-kind, Public Bike Sharing (PBS) program under its smart city initiative. It consisted of a dedicated 12-kilometre cycling track (the red path that you see in the picture) across the city along with 500 smart bicycles that are controlled by GPS. The government launched this project to promote eco-friendly transportation amidst the rising pollution levels in the country. The cyles can be available to anyone at ₹ 10 for half an hour and can go up till ₹ 60 for three hours.
But the sad reality is that, even though the government has done its part, the people of Bhopal do not opt for this option but prefer to travel in their AC cars that fart out pollution with every moving step. From the looks of it, the project has sadly been a failure.
