On 21st September 2014, Bhopal became the fifth city in India to implement the weekly open streets movement - Raahgiri Day. Organized by Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC), Traffic Police and Bhopal City Link Ltd. (BCLL) in collaboration with EMBARQ India, the event started at 6 am and witnessed an overwhelming first day turnout. Over ten thousand people from all over the city participated in this event at Boat Club Road.
Raahgiri Day is India's first sustained car-free day, launched first in Gurgaon – India’s “Millennium City” – on November 17, 2013 – with 10,000 people in the inaugural event. Over half a million people have now participated in car-free Sundays, including high-visibility events at Connaught Place in New Delhi.
After the huge success of Raahgiri at the Upper Lake for eight weeks running, this Sunday, it was extended to Shahpura Lake. Bhopalites turned up in large numbers at both the venues that remained jam-packed.
Bhopal’s edition of Raahgiri Day saw special programmes including fitness dancing, exercises, rangolis, cycling, skating and gully sports like cricket, football, badminton, hockey and yoga, amongst others. The Commissioner of BMC, Ms. Tejaswi Naik was also seen actively participating in a game of hockey with a group of children. The traffic police and officials patrolling the stretch did so on cycles. For the first time at Raahgiri, cycle rentals were computerised and therefore, more organised.
Traffic Police officials gave important information about road safety, educating people about traffic signals, safe driving, and the importance of wearing helmets. Large banners that read “city for people, not for vehicles” were seen around the area. Environmental experts were also present and conveyed key messages to protect and preserve our environment for the future.
Bhopal is the 14th largest city in India and is known as the “City of Lakes” for its various natural as well as artificial lakes. In recent years, Bhopal has been witnessing a gradual increase in vehicle ownership. Civic bodies have been adopting different measures to retain the existing mode share of cycling and walking in the city, which is still pretty high in number. Raahgiri Day is an attempt towards this vision.
With more participation at Raahgiri, people want more space to be provided to them for the event.Sarika Chaturvedi, 35, director of a spa, who attended Raahgiri at the Upper Lake last week, this time visited the Shahpura Lake one. She complained that the Upper Lake was congested while Shahpura Lake was dirty. "People have been spitting and littering here. Maybe the venue was chosen at the last minute, but for next time, I expect the venue to be cleaner. The administration should also give more space to the activity. Cycling in such a congested space is not possible." A rain dance for raahgirs Dancing is an important part of Raahgiri, but the rain dance this time seemed to have given more spirit to the Raahgirs, who were seen grooving to Bollywood numbers. They seemed to dance with even more enthusiasm after the fire brigade sprayed water on them - twice! Kids got a separate section as well for pottery, cricket, football, and skating. Sangeeta,a homemaker, who was there with her kids, said, "My kids had a great time and I enjoyed zumba and playing tug-of-war."
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