[sustran] Letter to West Bengal CM : Ban on non-motorised transport in the city of Kolkata by Police

[Vinay Baindur]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: NAPM India <napmindia at napm-india.org>
Date: Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 2:48 PM
Subject: Letter to West Bengal CM : Ban on non-motorised transport in the
city of Kolkata by Police
To:


*NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF PEOPLE'S MOVEMENTS*

*National Office : *6/6 Jangpura B, New Delhi – 110 014 . Phone : 011 2437
4535 | 9818905316

E-mail: *napmindia at gmail.com <napmindia at gmail.om>* | Web : *
www.napm-india.org*

New Delhi, September 10, 2013

To,
*Smt. Mamata Banerjee, *

Chief Minister of West Bengal

 *Sub: Ban on non-motorised transport in the city of Kolkata by Police*


Dear Mamata Ji,
Namaskar !

We are stunned to know that the Kolkata Traffic Police through 29th May,
2013 Gazette Notification has passed an order to ban cycles, hand cart,
pull cart, tri-cycles and other forms of non-motorised roads from 174 major
and minor streets in the Kolkata city. The order is not only in violation
of the National Urban Transport policy of 2006 that encourages
non-motorized forms of transport but also an assault on livelihoods of
working class people. Millions of poor and working class people in Kolkata
are dependent on these forms of transport for earning an honest living and
also commute within the city.

Cycles are a perfect manifestation of your party's slogan and vision -
since Bicycles and non-motorized transport are socially inclusive, directly
support livelihoods, inexpensive; take much less space, good for the
environment and health, and least likely to cause jams and accidents.

Here are few facts and figures for your attention:

   -

   *Data of the Union Ministry of Urban Development shows people in Kolkata
   make nearly 2.5 million cycle trips a day, second only to Delhi.*
   -

   *Kolkata is the only metropolitan city in India where trips by cycle (11
   per cent) outnumber trips by cars (8 per cent).*
   -

   *Traffic accident data for West Bengal (2011) shows only 1.5 per cent of
   road accidents happen due to fault of cyclists against 71 per cent due to
   faults of motor vehicle drivers*
   -

   *Kolkata has the lowest number of private cars and the least amount of
   road space (6 per cent) among metro cities. Even smaller cities like
   Gwalior have more registered motor vehicles than Kolkata. Cycling is
   practical and popular with the masses.*
   -

   *Cycles do not slow down vehicular traffic. Average speed of traffic in
   Kolkata varies between 14-18 km/ hour. The national average is 22 km/hour
   *
   -

   *With a population of over 14 million, urban agglomeration of Kolkata is
   among the most densely populated in the country. At least 7,750 people live
   in one sq km area. Cycling is a practical mode of transport in such areas
   *

We are aware that these notifications have been passed on the orders of the
Honorable High Court, but we feel your government must deal with this
legally, rather than taking this anti poor and anti working class step.

Hence we urge you to revoke this ban and demand that adequate authorities
on lines of other Metro cities be set up to take where local authorities
can work with experts to find a holistic solution to Kolkata’s traffic
congestion problems that focuses to provide safety to pedestrians and Non
Motorised Transport through building of cycle tracks, public cycle scheme
and integrate that with other forms of public transport.

*We do hope your government will take adequate notice and revoke the ban at
the earliest. *

Yours Sincerely,

*Medha Patkar* - Narmada Bachao Andolan and the National Alliance of
People’s Movements (NAPM)

*Prafulla Samantara* - Lok Shakti Abhiyan, NAPM, Odisha

*Dr. Sunilam *- Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, NAPM, MP

*Gautam Bandopadhyay* – Nadi Ghati Morcha, NAPM, Chhattisgarh

*Vilas Bhongade, Suniti SR, Suhas Kolhekar, Prasad Bagwe* - NAPM,
Maharashtra

*Gabriel Dietrich, Geetha Ramakrishnan* – Unorganised Sector Workers
Federation, NAPM, TN

*C R Neelakandan *– NAPM Kerala

*Ramakrishnan Raju, Saraswati Kavula, P Chennaiah* – NAPM Andhra Pradesh

*Bhupender Singh Rawat, Rajendra Ravi, Anita Kapoor, Sunita Rani, Madhuresh
Kumar, Seela M* – NAPM, Delhi

*Arundhati Dhuru *- NAPM, Uttar Pradesh

*Sister Celia *- Domestic Workers Union & *Sudhir Vombatkere *- NAPM,
Karnataka

*Vimal Bhai* - Matu Jan sangathan, NAPM, Uttarakhand

*Krishnakant,* *Anand Mazhgaonkar*, Paryavaran Suraksh Samiti, NAPM Gujarat

*Pranab Banerjee, Samar Bagchi, Anuradha Talwar, Debjit Dutta, Amitava
Mitra, Kalyan Sengupta, Pasharul Alam – *NAPM West Bengal* *

 *For details contact : Madhuresh Kumar 9818905316 | **email : **
napmindia at gmail.com*

-- 
===============================================
*National Alliance of People’s Movements
*National Office : 6/6, Jangpura B, Mathura Road, New Delhi 110014
Phone : 011 26241167 / 24354737 Mobile : 09818905316
Web : www.napm-india.org
Facebook : www.facebook.com/NAPMindia
Twitter : @napmindia
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