Starting this week, Sunday mornings will be fiesta of health and delight as denizens of Ranchi will take to the streets, revelling the day of rest exercising and dancing.
Of a mind to propagate healthy lifestyle practices and promote greener modes of commuting, Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has decided to dedicate a 1.75 kilometre long stretch between Jaipal Singh Stadium and Mission Chowk, via Shaheed Chowk, Albert Ekka Chowk and Sarjana Chowk, from 6:00 am to 10:00 am on Sundays for an amalgamation of sports, health and recreational activities, named Raahgiri.
“We came to know that 36 per cent commuters walk on streets of Ranchi and another 10 per cent use bicycles. But the increasing number of motorised vehicles in the city is discouraging them. Raahgiri will help in bringing the practice of walking and cycling back in vogue,” stated Municipal Commissioner Prashant Kumar during a press conference on Tuesday.
The stretch will be declared vehicle-free too and can only be traversed through one of the three means – on foot, bicycle or roller skates. The unhurried pace of these modes of transportation will help those in attendance to enjoy and participate in the various activities
Participants can either workout in open gymnasium or attend yoga sessions, play several outdoor sports like badminton, volleyball, cricket and more or cycle and skate. Selfie Corner, Street ludo, Citizen’s Cafe and Chaupal and Creative Corner can be opted by those who want to keep off the rigorous activities.
Hoardings, media clips and bulk text messages are being used to popularies the initiative among the people of Ranchi, said Kumar.
“Alternate routes for emergency service vehicles have already been decided, if need be. Depending on the response we get here and considering the aspects that come to our notice, Raahgiri will be taken to other parts of Ranchi too,” said Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Manoj Ratan Chothe.
Meanwhile, the urban local body and Ranchi traffic police devised a new parking management plan to be implemented along the stretch of Mahatma Gandhi Road (Main Road). This new plan will make on-road parking costlier in order to promote off-road parking said Kumar.
The main artery, from Albert Ekka Chowk to Overbridge has been categorised in four colour-coded parking zones. The parking zones have been classified as Green, Yellow, Orange and Red. For parking in Green, drivers will have to pay Rs 20 for four wheelers and Rs 5 for two-wheelers. For Yellow, four-wheelers will have to pay Rs 30 and two-wheelers will have to pay Rs 10 per hour.
In Orange parking zones, drivers will have to pay Rs 40 and Rs 10 per hour for four-wheelers and two-wheelers respectively. No parking will be allowed in Red Zone. Drivers parking outside these zones will also be charged after a waiting period of 10 minutes.
“The proposal will be tabled in before RMC Board and will be put to effect after their approval. Once approved, we will float tenders for agencies to handle collection of parking charges for us. They will have to use electronic devices to count down the waiting time and collect the parking fees,” Kumar said.