Cyclists paddle to create awareness on road safety in Delhi

In a bid to create awareness on road safety among cyclists and pedestrians, a 'cyclothon' was organised in New Delhi on Sunday.

Olympic silver-medalist wrestler Sushil Kumar flagged off the cycle rally and told people to follow safety rules while driving.

The rally was also attended by Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi and former Indian cricketer, Ajay Jadeja.

People, especially children, took part in the cyclothon with great enthusiasm and queued up at the venue since morning.

Meanwhile, Kumar called upon people to follow road safety measures stringently.

"I would like to say that people should follow all road safety rules, and I congratulate the transport department for organising such awareness campaigns and I appeal to people across the country to avoid accidents and follow safety rules," he said.

The five-kilometre long cyclothon was organised by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in association with the Delhi Police and the International Road Federation.

"As pedestrians and cyclists are most vulnerable to accidents on roads, it is necessary for them to follow traffic rules. Keeping this in mind, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in association with the Delhi Police has organised this campaign and people are made aware about the traffic rules," Bassi said.

The cyclists were seen wearing safety gear and even Bassi paddled along with the kids.

Further, former Indian cricketer, Ajay Jadeja, emphasised on sensitivity and respect towards cyclists.

"There should be awareness that cyclists are on the road too, they should be respected and taken care of because unfortunately cyclists are the ones who are most affected by accidents, so next time you are on the roads, just be careful that cyclists have equal rights to be on that road too," he said.

Cyclists are prone to accidents due to careless and reckless driving. With rise in urbanisation, city development has diverted its way more towards making way for rising number of vehicles thereby leaving little space for cyclists on the roads.

Road accidents are common in India, where roads are often of poor quality.

Transport officials attribute a large number of accidents in India to reckless driving and untrained drivers.