Donita Jose By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Hyderabad affords very little space to its cyclists. It is indeed a difficult hobby to have. While the city might have gotten an ‘exclusive cycling park’ in the form of Pala Pitta Park in Kondapur a couple of years ago, it has lost one of its main cycling tracks, such as the one between Biodiversity junction and Mindspace, in the same time. This track was sacrificed at the altar of urban development — the construction of a flyover. Since then, there have been several plans to build new tracks, however, none of them have materialised yet. There are around a hundred Hyderabadi cyclists who pursue the hobby on a regular basis, and most of them choose to ride early in the morning when there aren’t that many vehicles on the roads. They often make the trips to Necklace Road in the centre of the city or the ORR in its periphery. It is not surprising to learn that these options are quite unsafe. In fact, many of these people ride in groups, often with service vehicles trailing them, for added safety. Aditya Mehta, an award-winning para-cyclist and a coach, says, “We face difficulty in training BSF and CRPF officials because they need 10-50 km long tracks to practice on. Something like that is available at Necklace Road, however even at 5 am cars and other vehicles ply on the roads, making them unsafe.” Previously, a world-class cycling track had been planned between IIIT junction and ORR. However, the plan has been in limbo for over a year now. In spite of the present scenario, experts maintain that the best area to tap into would be the Hitec City area. DV Manohar, chairman of Hyderabad Bicycling Club (HBC) and vice-president of World Cycling Alliance, says, “The government needs to look towards promoting cycling in West zone, as it has wide roads and has people that will be more receptive to it.”

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