"Raahgiri Day" in Madhapur on Jan 18

Hyderabad, Jan 14 (INN): Play, Dance, Sing as if you own the road. It is not a joke. Coming from the this Sunday the 18th January and every Sunday, the 1.2 kms stretch of road (one side) from Mindspace to Bio Diversity Park in Madhapur will be out of bounds to Cars, Two Wheeler and other vehicles.

From 6.30 am to 10.30 am, for four hours, you can go there, Play Galli Foot Ball, Cricket, Dance, Bicycle, Enact a Street Play, Fly the Kite, no questions asked. During this time, you will literally own the road. You can reclaim your road and relive your childhood.

TAF will organise Cycling; Coca cola - Galli Cricket, Foot ball etc., Reebok- Zumba, Aerobics etc.,

Octopus - Street theaters; Ascendas ' Kites, Shel Studio Design n Events LLP'Kiyaa Dolls, ADFI ' Quiz. And other supporters include Vaada Foundation, Greater Hyderabad Adventure Corporation etc

You too can go along with your bunch of friends and do whatever you all feel like. All this is due to Rahagiri or Raahgiri Day whic is modeled after 'Ciclovia'(Spanish word means "Cycleway"), an event that began in Bogot', Colombia in 1976, which closed streets to cars and opened them for the exclusive use of people. Today, up to 1 million Bogot' residents from all walks of life still enjoy over 130 kms of car-free streets every Sunday.

Starting from Gurgaon, Rahagiri is happening across India in cities like Delhi, Indore, Ahmedabad. Hyderabad is the first in South India to kick start this people moment.

Copenhagen is already a car free streets city and it has taken back the city. Copenhagen is the bike city for more than a century.

The cycle culture is as old as the bicycle itself there. Copenhageners use bicycles to transport themselves to work since the 1880s. Back then, commuting by bike was the fastest, easiest and most environmentally friendly way to move around the city ' and it still is.

Similarly Bagota city has car free day and week. When they realized that they lose almost 22days per year in traffic, they got into full cycling. They built bike baths. These two cities stand tall as good examples for sustainable and alternative transport systems.

"Rahagiri Day is a street event, which provides citizens with the opportunity to reclaim their streets, connect with their community, celebrate their city and therefore reclaim their lives.

Raahgiri is being organised by TSIIC (Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation), Cyberabad Traffic Police, EMBARQ, Identcity

Mindspace to Bio Diversity Park, the whole street will be cordoned off for citizens to come together in large numbers and use the street for recreation that promotes health, well-being, fitness, togetherness and joy. Children and adults will be invited to bike, skate, run and walk, to partake in community leisure activities such as street games, street dancing, to learn yoga, aerobics and zumba.

The Cities are meant for people, not vehicle. 70 per cent of the population do not use roads as they don't drive. Only 22% of the population is using motor cycles and cars.

Raahgiri which combines two ideas--path or way and taking charge of our own lives. Raahgiri is a people's moment for a shared vision of an active, car-free lifestyle. In our cities, car use is on the rise. It is hoped that Raahgiri Day will encourage people to ditch their cars and promotes physical activity by influencing residents to get up, get out and get moving.

The objectives behind Raahgiri Day are Road Safety (1.4 lakh people die annually in India due to road accidents); Air Pollutions (according to WHO 6.2 lakh premature deaths per year happen due to air pollution), Physical Inactivity (WHO reports that 4.3 lack premature deaths happen per yer in India due to physical inactivity) and Inclusive Development (society is becoming aloof without much interaction between cross sections thus resulting social segregation and social unrest of the people)

It is a pilot project which will be extended to many other localities during the course of time soon, according to a press note. For more details, people can visit the link:

www.facebook.com/RaahgiriDayHyderabad or speak to Prashanth Bachu (EMBARQ) on phone: 08305696456.