Ghaziabad’s first car free day saw cars zooming on roads and RWA representatives distributing roses and marigold.
Ghaziabad residents took the RWA initiative rather casually. Most of them decided to drive their cars. However, the district administration backed and encouraged the AOA Federation for its initiative.
Additional district magistrate Priti Jaiswal joined RWA representatives at Atal Chowk, Vasundhara and Chaudhary Morh on GT Road. She encouraged car owners to forsake their four-wheelers for the day, as RWA representatives distributed awareness pamphlets and flowers.
“We request the residents of Ghaziabad to observe car-free day on the tenth of every month. We will also try to include other departments to support the initiative,” Jaiswal said.
Supporting the initiative, UP Roadways introduced four additional Metro feeder buses from Govindpuram, Raj Nagar Central Park, Indirapuram and Lal Quaon. Passengers were charged a nominal ten rupees for all destinations.
"I came to know about the car free initiative through a few RWA representatives standing at Atal Chowk. They handed me a flower and a pamphlet. I travel to Gurgaon for work and not using my car is unthinkable,” said Amit Kumar, a resident of Sector 1 Vasundhara.
On the other hand, Meenakshi Mathur, resident of Raj Nagar, Sector 8, supported the initiative by not driving her car. “I came to know about the initiative and since it’s just for two hours, decided not to drive from 10 am to 12pm.”
Amar Singh, Superintendent of police (traffic), along with his team, supported the RWA initiative by riding bicycles. All the officers travelled to the intersection on bicycles.
