Parveen Arora
Karnal, October 4
After witnessing a poor response from the general public, the Karnal Municipal Corporation (KMC) has dropped the public-sharing bicycle project — Sanjhi cycle — which was launched with much fanfare on June 22, 2016, by the then Transport Minister, Krishan Panwar. Now, the KMC is going to utilise these unattended docking stations for advertisement purpose to generate income.
As many as 18 docking stations (cycle stands) were set up with 30 cycles at each station for people. The aim was to encourage residents to use the eco-friendly mode of transport for commuting and reducing pollution.
Later, two stations were closed and 16 were functional. Soon it was found that even these stations were lying non-functional for the past three years. The cycles were parked there and gathering dust. Some of them were broken, while a few stolen. As per sources, the remaining cycles were donated to the students of government schools.
The sources inside the civic body office claimed that the KMC had taken this step on the PPP mode and had signed an MoU with a company that had borne all expenses of bicycles, including the setting of docking stations. The KMC had given the company the rights to display advertisements on these stations, for which it had to pay the advertisement tax.
As per the project, a person could get the membership by paying Rs 100 and a radio frequency (RF) identity card, which entitleed a free one-hour right to ride the bicycle. The cycle could be left at any other docking station. After one hour, a nominal fee of Rs 5 per hour was to be charged, deductible from the ‘sanjhi cycle wallet, said an official.
Earlier, it had witnessed a good response as around 2,000 persons got themselves registered, but with time, it failed to attract people. The House of the KMC also dumped the project. The KMC had made several efforts to run this project and had roped in 21 youths at the docking stations to ensure the smooth functioning of this ambitious project, the official added.
Ajay Tomar, Commissioner, KMC, said as of now, they were planning to use the stand for advertisement purpose, which would assist in generating income for the KMC.
Launched in June 2016
- The Sanjhi cycle project was launched with much fanfare on June 22, 2016, by the then Transport Minister, Krishan Panwar
- Some cycles were donated to the students of government schools
Planning to use stands for advt purpose
As of now, we are planning to use the stands for advertisement purpose, which will assist in generating income for the KMC. Ajay Tomar, commissioner, KMC
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