to beat an established record or to win an Olympic medal, or there may be hundreds of riders in the same race competing against each other. The competition could be for participants of any age between eight and eighty. The race could be a spirit as short as 500 metres or as long as the Tour-de-France lasting three weeks and spanning around 5000 kilometres. As a competitive sport, cycling offers a remarkable variety,

for no other sport apart from racing provides events of so many different types. In Europe, cycle racing is one of the most popular sport where the leading riders are national heroes. The sport which caters to both amateurs and professionals also has a large following in Britain, India and other countries. Taking up cycling is simply a matter of purchasing a bicycle and devoting a short time to ride it. The introduction of the chain-driven safety bicycle in 1885 brought further dramatic advances and the worldwide International Cycling Association (I.C.A) was formed in 1892. Track Competition in the Olympic Games and the World Championships had ensued and has established the sport in countries like India, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, South Africa, Canada and the West Indies. Europe however remains the stronghold. Besides all this, in many countries like Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Portugal and Austria, cycling is an integral part of the day today life of the residents as is also seen in many Asian countries such as China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Coming to Manipur, on 23rd January 2011, the Manipur Cycle Club (MCC) was launched at MB College in Imphal which was witnessed by over a hundred cycle enthusiasts and academicians. Padmashree RK Jhaljit was honoured as the “Man with the Cycle” and he presented some findings on why the cycle is the answer to the present day health, environment and economic crisis in the State. Then a membership enrolment process was also was opened. A follow up meeting was held at MB College, Imphal and a coordinating Committee was formed with Yambem Laba as the Convener and Deben Sharma as the Co-convenor of MCC to further work on the organisational development processes.

MCC submitted a Memorandum to the Chief Minister of Manipur demanding cycle lanes and cycle parking spaces in the city besides others to make Imphal city  a cycle city and copies of the memorandum were submitted to the Secretary to the Governor of Manipur, Minister of Transport, Chief  Secretary, MAHUD, IMC, PDA, Environment & Ecology Wing, Government of Manipur. MCC also submitted a representation to the State Action Plan for Climate Change. The points raised among many included; Declaration of Manipur as a cycle friendly State, creating a special fund for promoting cycling, a cycle friendly city plan; cycle lanes and cycle parking spaces, incentives for cyclists and declaration of certain areas in the city as ‘Cycle Only Zones’

MCC organised a reception programme for participants of the MCC Cycle Expedition with Mr. Chayan Mandal, a lone All India Cycle Tourist. A team of the MCC members flagged off the All India Cycle Tourist Mr. Chayan to Bishenpur Bazar along with Moirang youth organisations of Manipur. MCC also sent a team of 3BMX riders to Shillong to participate in the NE Regional competition held there. After this, the MCC foundation day celebration was held and the MCC book ‘Cycle for Life-1’ was launched as an anniversary publication. Later Cycle on Rent was launched at Kangla by the former Chief Secretary of Manipur. These cycles were under the sponsorship of Directorate of Environment, Government of Manipur. Apart from this, Bamboo cycle Fabrication Demonstration and workshop was conducted by MCC in collaboration with the South Asia Bamboo Society. It was sponsored by Manipur Skill Development Society, Government of Manipur. The Bamboo Cycles were launched by N. Kipgen, Director of, Manipur Chapter, National Bamboo Mission. MCC joined a campaign ‘Human Rights Now’ of 16 different organisations in Manipur demanding the State Government to re-constitute the Manipur State Human Rights Commission to address the issues of access to health for youth who are affected and infected by drugs and HIV/AIDS.

Reports of providing bicycle lanes or parking lots were not reflected in the CDP of Imphal under JNNURM

Padmashree RK Jhaljit, renowned historian and scholar encouraged all to adopt cycling for health, environment and family saving and lamented on finding no space for cycles in present Imphal city development works. RK Ranjan, former Registrar of Manipur University, U Nabakishore, NGO worker, Yambem Laba a former Member Manipur Human Rights Commission, Babloo Loitongbam a human rights activist and former Editor Ireibak Irengbam Arun also shared concerns about the deteriorating environment and economic situation in the State and how developed and developing countries abroad have, by policy, adopted cycling to attend to day to day activities.

MCC submitted a Memorandum to the Chief Minister of Manipur demanding for cycle lane and cycle parking space in the city besides others to make Imphal city  a cycle city

The function attended by about 50 concerned citizens including women belonging to different walks of life  who unanimously formed the Manipur Cycle Club with an objective of reviving and popularizing cycles as the only means to address the larger issues of health, economy, development and the environment. Altogether 50 members registered as the founding members of the club to work together towards changing the negative mindset of the people and lack of space for cycles in public space. These members included environmentalists, journalist, film makers, academicians, human rights activists, intellectuals and scholars.

In commemoration of the first anniversary of the Manipur Cycle Club, the ‘First Cycle Summit’ was observed at two different locations in Imphal. The function was graced by the former Chief Secretary, Government of Manipur as the chief guest and Dr. RK Ranjan former Registrar MU as the President. Mr, Ramananda, the then vice president and founder of MCC, in his opening speech stressed on the importance of bringing back the trend of cycling on the roads to mitigate the challenges of urbanization in Imphal City and beyond. DS Poonia, in his speech, stated that the initiative taken by the Manipur Cycle Club is a timely one, mentioning that fuel guzzlers have taken over the roads and the numbers of vehicles have multiplied at an alarming rate. The speech was followed by the inauguration of MCC’s ‘Cycle on Rent’ facility by the former Chief Secretary. Later the President of the function flagged off a cycle rally, which proceeded from historic Kangla and ended at Manipur Press Club.

The motto of the MCC is - Cycle for health, environment and economy. Its goal is to make Imphal economically conscious, raise awareness and health of people across gender, sections of society, professions and communities by adopting cycling for daily local transport in Imphal city and urban areas of Manipur.

The club has strategies like networking co-operation and collaboration with environmental groups, scientific  institutions and corporations and activities such as monitoring trends in city transport, environment pollution  etc. Apart from this, there are also objectives for organizing public awareness campaigns for cycle use. Meanwhile, in a move to revive the shrinking bicycle lanes and parking lots in Manipur, a working group has been constituted in a meeting of the newly formed Manipur Cycle Club. The former State Human Rights Commission member Yambem Laba led working group is all set to urge the authority concerned to provide bicycle lanes in the City Development Plant (CDP) of the State capital under Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Property Alleviation’s Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) programme.

Imphal town having a population of around 2.5 lakh people is among 63 Indian cities wherein JNNURM is aimed at developing and improving water supply, roads, play grounds, parks, street lamps, drainage etc. in an effort to encourage creation of financially sustainable inclusive cities since its inception in 2005. “However reports of providing bicycle lanes or parking lots were not reflected in the CDP of Imphal under JNNURM,” a bicycle enthusiast attending the MCC meeting claimed

MCC was floated by a group of bicycle enthusiasts from various walks of life, in a bid to popularize the use of bicycles as a means of transport in this era of global warming and climate change

MCC was floated by a group of bicycle enthusiasts from various walks of life in a bid to popularize the use of bicycles as a means of transport in this era of global warming and climate change. In short the Club is devoted to the promotion of health, economy and environment affecting all sections of society, locally and globally.

 

 

Khelmani Khangabam