Aurangabad, Feb 16:
In an applaudable development, Aurangabad has become one of 25 cities in India, which have been shortlisted for the second phase of nationwide Cycles4Change Challenge organised by Smart Cities Mission. Notably, the Aurangabad Smart City Development Corporation Ltd (ASCDCL) has created a first cycle track of 6 km length from Kranti Chowk to Railway Station as part of this Challenge.
The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) administrator and ASCDCL-CEO A K Pandey had launched the Challenge in our city on October 2, 2020. He had also announced developing cycle tracks of 20 km.
The cycle enthusiasts and other stakeholders with officials of ASCDCL, AMC and traffic police, surveyed in different parts of the city and finally selected the stretch from Kranti Chowk to Railway Station to develop the city’s first cycle track. The track was completed in January, and the state's environment and tourism minister Aditya Thackeray inaugurated the track in the presence of the guardian minister Subhash Desai, stated the media release.
Pandey had also encouraged Cycle to Work Day; heritage cycle rally, street painting at Cidco N-1 and Open Streets events were organised as part of the Challenge. A total of 107 cities applied for the Challenge and the Stage I finalists were declared on Tuesday. The city has now vowed to impress the jury through a presentation and get selected among 11 cities which will receive scale-up support of Rs 1 crore.