Bhubaneswar: After winning two awards in the India Smart City Awards Contest on June 25 this year, Bhubaneswar bagged India Cycles4Change Challenge Stage-1 Award on Wednesday. It was adjudged among the top 11 Cycling Pioneers of the nation.
The top 11 awardees under the India Cycles4change Stage-1 cities are Bengaluru in Karnataka, Bhubaneswar in Odisha, Chandigarh in Punjab and Haryana, Kohima in Nagaland, Nagpur in Maharashtra, New Town Kolkata in West Bengal, Pimpri Chinchwad in Maharashtra, Rajkot in Gujarat, Surat in Gujarat, Vadodara in Gujarat and Warangal in Telangana.
All these cities will receive an award of Rs 1 crore each to scaleup their cycling events in their respective cities.
Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, announced the Top 11 winning cities through a virtual event held in New Delhi. Central and state governments officials and other stakeholders from all cities participating in India Cycles4Change Challenge attended the event.
The Ministry also announced Season Two of the India Cycles4Change Challenge – wherein fresh applications will be invited from all Smart Cities, capital cities of States/UTs and cities with a population of over 5 lakh. The Second Season of The India Cycles4Change challenge will start from August, 2021.
Speaking after the award ceremony, CEO Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) Sanjay Kumar Singh Said, “We are going to promote cycling events regularly across the city during the second season and also popularize the Public Bicycle Sharing initiative among the public to increase the ridership.’’