Eco activists organise bicycle ride in Bhopal

BHOPAL: Members of the 'Extinction Rebellion', in association with independent social workers, organised the ‘Slow Roll’ movement Bhopal by holding a bicycle ride.
“The idea is to do away with the notion that fast life is good life. Consumerism has taken such deep roots in society that people are just existing and doing anything and everything to amass materialistic possessions.This is becoming one of the major causes of environmental degradation and increasing the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’,” Piyuli Ghosh, one of the organisers of the event, said.
‘Extinction Rebellion’ members Sarthak Tomar, Soumya Jain and Asmi Saxena are trying to educate people about the harmful effects of human activities and how each individual can make a difference if they make slight lifestyle changes.
“People who are educating people about the dire need for lifestyle changes also participated in the event. It was their idea to go for a ‘slow bicycle ride’ to allow people to look around and see how we have destroyed the environment. The idea of choosing bicycles was also to reduce vehicular pollution. If we can encourage them to use bicycles instead of two-wheelers and cars, even if for short distances, we can make a huge difference,” added Ghosh.
To bridge the gap between the privileged and under privileged citizens, the event focused on social inclusion. For this, the organisers invited children from the Aranya slum area to participate in the event.
The event began at 6 am with 60 bicycle riders covering a 4km stretch from Ekant Park to Shahpura lake, Bittan Market, Banskhedi and back to the park.