NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India hosted an awards event virtually on Thursday, February 17, to recognise the top performing cities and city leaders in Freedom 2 Walk and Cycle Challenge. As part of the activities being undertaken under ‘Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav’, Smart Cities Mission hosted the two mentioned national level challenges for the first time between January 1 to January 26 2022.
Nearly 22,000 citizens from the 75 participating cities took part in the citizens challenge, cycling nearly 9,80,000 kilometers, walking 1,82,000 km, and running 9350 km. Indore came out on top in the field of cycling. Kalyan Dombivali and Kota attained Platinum position for walking and running respectively.
Nearly 130 city leaders from across the country participated in the City Leaders Challenge, including Commissioners, Additional/Joint/Deputy Commissioners, Smart City CEOs, and important SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) officials, who collectively cycled nearly 47,000 km, walked 7000 km, and ran 2500 km. City leaders were also awarded in different categories.
The participating cities are in the process of signing the pledges to commit towards institutionalising activities like Cycle2Work, Open Street Events, Pedestrian Days, and physical infrastructure in cities. The event also outlined the objectives that cities participating in India’s Cycles4Change, Streets4People, and Transport4All challenges.