Patna: Students shun motor vehicles, switch to cycles

By: Pushkar Rajan
PATNA: The Bihar State Pollution Control Board’s (BSPCB) eight-day awareness drive, christened ‘Beat Air Pollution’, concluded with a cycle rally and street play on the occasion of World Environment Day on Wednesday.
At least 20 students, teachers and non-teaching staff of DAV Public School-BSEB as well as members of the pollution control board took part in the rally, which was aimed at discouraging the use of motor vehicles among Patnaites.
The cycle rally was flagged off by BSPCB chairman Ashok Kumar Ghosh and DAV-BSEB vice-principal Mithilesh Kumar from the school building at 6 in the morning. The cyclists pedalled till gate number II of the Sanjay Gandhi Botanical Garden (popularly known as the Patna zoo) where a street play called ‘Zamana Badlega’ (Society will Change) was enacted. It narrated the story of two families and an environmentalist and urged the viewers to protect nature. The students also spread awareness about the ill-effects of air pollution and advised Patnaites to switch to compressed natural gas.
As part of the ‘Beat Air Pollution’ campaign, the BSPCB has organized cycle rallies and street plays at 20 different locations of the city during the last few days. Many National Cadet Corp cadets have taken part in these events.
BSEB vice-principal Mithiliesh Kumar told this newspaper, “Protecting the environment is not only the responsibility of the government, but our duty as well. The issue of air pollution is grave and cannot be tackled alone. A comprehensive approach is, therefore, required in this regard.”
Students, who took part in the rally, shared similar views on air pollution. “All possible measures should be taken to protect the environment. Air pollution is a serious issue,” said DAV-BSEB student Shivangi Murti.