Visakhapatnam gears up for Smart Cities Mission’s India Cycles4Change Challenge

The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has registered for the India Cycles4Change Challenge, an initiative helmed by the Smart Cities Mission, Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India (MOHUA). The Corporation is one of the 95 cities to take part in the competition, which aims to support Indian cities to quickly implement cycling-friendly initiatives in response to COVID-19.

Taking to Twitter, the GVMC urged the citizens to join hands in order to win cycle challenge. The municipal corporation shared, “With the support of our citizens, Visakhapatnam is participating in the India Cycles4Change Challenge in its pursuit to become a cycling-friendly city. We kindly request you to fill this survey and let us know what you think about cycling in our city.”

Announced on 25 June, by Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge), MoHUA, the India Cycles4Change Challenge was launched at the 5th-anniversary celebrations of the Smart Cities Mission. The India Programme of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) will be the knowledge partner of the Smart Cities Mission to assist the Mission in conducting this challenge and guiding cities in developing and implementing their proposals. 

The competition will be held in two stages. Stage 1 will continue till October, where cities will pilot initiatives such as pop-up cycle lanes, host public consultations, conduct surveys, and hold campaigns to promote cycling. Based on the submitted proposals, 11 cities will be shortlisted in October for stage 2. Each of the shortlisted cities will be awarded Rs 1 crore each. The cities will be guided by national and international experts to scale-up the initiatives until May 2021.