Cycle-sharing in P’kula from today

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, August 20

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will inaugurate the bicycle-sharing project along with various other projects here tomorrow.

The Panchkula Municipal Corporation has given a Rs 2.09-crore project to M/s Dharani Enterprises, which successfully conducted the trial this morning. The firm was already running a similar system in the Bhopal and Gwalior civic bodies.

Around 200 bicycles at 20 stations in the town will be in operation in the bell corridor covering 8 roundabouts of the city and the system will be controlled by android/IOS app. These bicycles will be equipped with the GPS tracking system and smart locks.

Rajesh Jogpal, MC Commissioner-cum-Administrator, said both men and women could ride these bicycles. Bicycles would have features such as adjustable seats, child-friendly elements and utility baskets. The fare would be charged via smartcard and through a mobile application.

He said initially, registered users would be able to use the facility in the jurisdiction of the town. There would be a central control to monitor the system in real time.

Given the rising level of air pollution and vehicular traffic on city roads, the concept would make Panchkula the first city in the region to adopt the cycle-sharing concept to move towards the smart city project, he said.

Meanwhile, addressing the media local MLA Gian Chand Gupta said CM Manohar Lal would lay the foundation stone and inaugurate six projects worth Rs 92.72 crore.

He said Khattar would lay the foundation stones of two major roads in the district, including widening and strengthening of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Marg-II (Toka to Khatauli section) to be constructed at Rs 8.96 crore, construction of a link road from Khangesra to Jaswantgarh at a cost of Rs 6.34 crore, community centre in Sector 21 at Rs 5.47 crore, multi-feature park in Sector 24 (Rs 8.8 crore) and MC building in Sector 3 (Rs 45.43 crore).

He said the projects to be inaugurated include sports institution building in Tau Devi Lal Stadium at a cost of Rs 13.44 crore and extension of the Director General of Prisons Office in Sector 14 at a cost of Rs 3.04 crore. Besides this, the CM would also lay the stone of milk chilling plant at Kalka (Rs 1.80 crore) for the benefit of dairy farmers in 47 villages of the sub-division.

Will Have GPS tracking system, smart locks

Around 200 bicycles at 20 stations in the town will be in operation in the bell corridor covering 8 roundabouts of the city and the system will be controlled by android/IOS app. These bicycles will be equipped with the GPS tracking system and smart locks.