A week after the Lalitpur Metropolitan City\u00a0inaugurated the first 4.7 kilometre\u00a0cycle lane from Kupondole, Jawalakhel to Mangal Bazaar, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City on Tuesday organised an interaction where it proposed having its own 3.1 kilometre cycle lane linking Maitighar to Tinkune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA timeline for executing the cycle lane is yet to be decided by the city though,\u201d an official familiar with the developments told the Post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the cycle lane unveiling programme on November 30, Lalitpur Mayor Chiri Babu Maharjan had reached the inaugural venue in Kupondole, riding his own\u00a033-year-old bicycle,\u00a0along with other cyclists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cyclists, in general, welcomed the move, calling it a step forward in making the Kathmandu valley environmentally-friendly. \u201cThis is a good move. If two metropolitan cities compete with each other for building such eco-friendly infrastructure, this is good for Kathmandu Valley,\u201d said Ratna Shrestha, founder president of the Nepal Cycle Society. Shrestha had facilitated Tuesday\u2019s interactive session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, some cycling enthusiasts called it a late announcement by Kathmandu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis track should have come into operation six years ago, but due to unaccountable political leadership, bureaucratic hurdles and lack of coordination among various stakeholders, this could not happen,\u201d said Hira Lal Tendulkar, ward-11 chairperson of the City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at the programme, City\u2019s Chief Executive Officer Kedar Neupane said they will now be working toward reducing the number of fuel-operated vehicles and focusing on building pedestrian and cycle-friendly roads. Data from Traffic Police shows that Kathmandu Valley operates around 1.2 million fuel-operated vehicles every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe road designs are made keeping four-wheeler traffic in mind. Cycles have never got priority in the overall scheme of things,\u201d said Bhusan Tuladhar, an environmentalist. \u201cIt\u2019s never too late though.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A week after the Lalitpur Metropolitan City\u00a0inaugurated the first 4.7 kilometre\u00a0cycle lane from Kupondole, Jawalakhel…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,17,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-news","category-nepal","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n