Written by: Express News Service
2 min readMumbaiNov 9, 2011 03:44 AM IST
First published on: Nov 9, 2011 at 03:44 AM IST
Urging the urban community to ‘Drive less,Live more’,a city-based NGO has organised a Car Free Day on November 27 in an effort to reduce vehicular traffic and the air pollution caused by it.
As part of the event organised by the Greenmile Foundation in association with the Barmati Welfare Organisation,a car-free zone will be established for five hours from 7 am to noon starting from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus going upto Girgaum Chowpatty and ending near Bombay Gymkhana. To promote alternate modes of transport such as cycling and walking,a 20-km bike race and a 10-km speed walking race will be held on this route with the support of the Mumbai Traffic Police.
“Every car owner today goes through frustration and road rage due to excessive traffic on the roads. Also,according to estimates,air pollution accounts for close to eight lakh deaths every year. These reasons prompted us to organise a car free day,which is a tried and tested tool globally to bring down traffic and pollution levels,” said Kalpesh Parekh,founder chairman,Greenmile Foundation.
The event has already received a combined total of 500 registrations for both races,with organisers expecting the number to reach 3,000. Besides these activities,the initiative also allows citizens to support the cause by pledging to ‘UNCAR’ on November 27. As part of this,citizens can log on to http://www.carfreeday.org.in and pledge to walk,use carpool or travel by cycle,train or bus on that day.
Based on the response in the city,the NGO plans to extend the event to other cities in 2012. “This is a chance for every citizen to show solidarity with the cause and make a difference,” said Parekh.
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