Yogesh K Porwar
Bengaluru calls on companies to champion walking and cycling.
The Chief Commissioner of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA),Maheshwar Rao,stated that necessary steps will be taken to further improve pedestrian and cycling infrastructure across the GBA limits.
After officially launching the innovative “Hejje–GALA” initiative,conceptualized by WRI,Walkaluru,and Urban Morph,aimed at strengthening a sustainable mobility culture in Bengaluru’s major employment hubs by promoting walking and cycling across the five City Corporations under GBA he emphasized the need for promoting walking and cycling in the city.
He said that improving footpaths across the city is one of GBA’s top priorities, and the Hejje–GALA initiative will create a healthy and positive competition among the five City Corporations.
He added that it is encouraging to see active participation from corporate organizations such as ORRCA,ELCIA,and WEPPIA in this initiative.
He further stated that data collected over the next three months through this initiative will be used on a priority basis to further strengthen pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.
Speaking on the occasion,BDA Commissioner, Manivannan said that several NGOs are continuously working to increase the usage of footpaths,and BDA will also collaborate with them.He assured full cooperation for this effort.
North City Corporation Commissioner,Pommala Sunil Kumar said that in the North City Corporation limits, officials and citizens have together already inspected 34 km of footpaths through walking audits,identified issues, and are working towards creating safer and more accessible footpaths.
He added that a target has been set to inspect 100 km of footpaths soon, and issues will be resolved through coordination among various departments.
Extensive Data Collection Over Three Months:
The primary objective of this city-wide initiative over the next three months is to improve employee health and well-being, reduce carbon emissions and traffic congestion,and collect essential data to strengthen pedestrian and cycling infrastructure in the city.
Special emphasis has been given to encouraging the participation of corporate heads and employees working within the five City Corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority.
Participating organizations will motivate their employees to record trips made by walking and cycling,including first and last-mile connections to public transport.
Participation,distance traveled,and estimated carbon reduction will be tracked and analyzed through dashboards and leaderboards.
*Registration at hejjegala.in.
Corporate organizations can register on hejjegala.in. City Corporation-level leaderboards will be displayed to encourage wider participation.
Insights from this challenge will help planners identify the need for safer pedestrian crossings, better-quality footpaths,and comfortable cycling tracks.
*Participating Organizations in Hejje–GALA:
Abhitech Engineers,Amazon Web Services,Bangalore Cyclists Club,Biocon,CGI,Dell Technologies,ELCIA, Embassy,Ericsson,GE Healthcare,Greenpeace,Hasiru Dala,InCred,Intel,KPMG,L&T Technology Services,Move In Sync,Novo Nordisk,ORRCA,PK Travels,Qualcomm, Satish & Company,Siemens,Association of Persons with Disabilities,Ugly Indians,VTIGER,WEPPIA and several other organizations participated in the initiative.
*Inaugural Walk Route:
The Hejje–GALA initiative was flagged off with a 2 km walk starting from Vidhana Soudha Metro Station, passing through Cubbon Park,and ending at the GBA Head Office.More than 40 corporate leaders and senior government officials participated in the event.
The event was attended by representatives of leading corporate organizations,Pawan Mulukutla,Executive Program Director (Integrated Transport,Clean Air & Hydrogen),WRI India,Sathya Shankar,Founder of Urban Morph,Arun Pai,Founder of Walkaluru,and several others.
