In the wake of rising air pollution levels in Delhi-NCR, a resident of Noida has come up with a novel idea to combat the menace of pollution which could sound bizarre to many among us. At a time when health experts are asking the denizens to minimise outdoor physical activity he decided to pedal his way to office.
Dhirendra Sharma, who is in his early 50s, started going to his workplace located in Sector 6 on his bicycle as soon as the air quality reached hazardous category. Citing the reason for his move, he said it was a step to contain the deteriorating air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The logic he gave for choosing bicycle instead of car as a mode of transport is that this way, he could contribute his bit to the efforts at saving the environment.
“I don't want to pollute the environment any further from my end,” asserted Sharma, a resident of Arawali Apartment, a society in Sector 34.
After the local administration announced on Sunday that schools in Noida and Greater Noida would remain closed till November 5 due to rising levels of pollution, the next morning Dharmendra picked up his bicycle and pedaled his way to reach his office covering almost 6 km from Sector 34 to Sector 6.
If everyone switches to bicycle instead of two- or four-wheelers, he argued that it would help bring down the pollution level.
"Cycling helps us maintain physical fitness and remain healthy. In addition, it would help in reducing the pollution level if most of the people use cycle,” he averred.
Dhirendra, who is associated with the Federation of RWAs in Noida and Employees’ Association of Noida Industrial Development Authority, concluded with an advise to fellow citizens: "We should do something on our part rather than blaming the government for not doing enough to contain the air pollution which keeps up its trend of peaking during the winter season year after year."
