As world leaders debate global warming and the perils of climate change, corporate India is doing its bit to get the ball rolling. To combat traffic pollution, many senior management executives are advocating the use of — believe it or not — the humble bicycle.

CK Venkatraman, COO of the jewellery division at Titan Industries has been cycling to work since 2002. “I started cycling to office as a hobby from 1993-94, but now I cycle regularly to work because of the traffic congestion. In Bangalore, cycling is slowly becoming a style statement. You see cycles worth Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakhs on our roads. It’s no longer the vehicle of someone who can’t even own a scooter,” he says.

Former Philips CEO Bob Hoekstra was known for pedalling to work daily and for roping in Netherlands Deputy PM I J Brinkhorst to join him. Thanks to the IT industry, Bangalore has more than 100 kilometres of cycle paths.

But its not just limited to the IT industry. LN Murthy Remilla, deputy director of business development (Antrix), ISRO is another who been travelling from home to office on a bicycle for the past 20 months. “Bad infrastructure is the only reason more and more people are not getting into this. This form of transport will do wonders to sustain the ecology of any city. And it’s a fantastic form of exercise,” he says.

With India’s population inching towards the 1.5 billion mark and vehicles on the road across India increasing at a national average of 10 to 20 per cent per annum, environmentalists are worried at the consequences this has on the country. Across the world, governing bodies faced with the same problem have realised this and are advocating commuting by the simplest mode of transportation – the bicycle. It’s emission free, reduces carbon footprinting, is sustainable and cuts fuel costs and crucially, saves fat sums as gym fees. Apart from this, building one kilometre of a cycling path costs less than one kilometre of metro railway. Globally, countries like Switzerland and the UK have led the example with government sponsored cycle-to-work programmes. So, what’s stopping India from doing the same?

For starters, commuters feel unsafe to travel on Indian roads by cycle and for the average Indian, it’s still a prickly question of social status. But things could be changing thanks to high profile celebrities like Rahul Gandhi cycling on New Delhi roads and Bollywood stars such Salman Khan cycling to shoots in Mumbai. CEOs

of companies are also leading the way in spreading awareness.

supriyaunni@mydigitalfc.com