Demanding that cyclists and other users of non-motorised transport (NMT) should be allowed to move freely in the city, activists have sought the intervention of the Calcutta High Court.
A PIL filed by members of the 'Chakra Satyagraha', a movement against the NMT ban, is expected to come up for hearing in a division bench of the court of Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Joymalya Bagchi on Wednesday.
In their petition before the court, the activists have prayed that the police should stop fining cyclists and NMT users as well as remove the "No cycling" boards from the city as the notification banning cycling is legally invalid now after the state government did not ratify it within the stipulated time.
Last year, the Kolkata Traffic Police had barred bicycles and all forms of NMTs like cycle-vans, handcarts, pull-carts, bakery vans, etc, from 174 roads of the city.
Besides ordinary cyclists and sustainability activists, newspaper vendors, courier delivery boys, milkmen, carpenters, masons and other labourers, came together and started 'Chakra Satyagraha' to fight for their right to passage.
Even after the ban became invalid, cyclists and NMT users continue to be fined by the police anything ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 300.
Activists have also requested the court to direct the police that no such further notification should be issued in the future to ban NMT as it goes against the idea of sustainability and equality.
Even the central government's National Urban Transport Policy encourages cycling.
The activists have also asked the court to constitute a proper fund from the money collected as fine from cycle-NMT users for the purpose of implementing remedial measures to ensure the smooth and safe passage for cyclists on all roads in the city.
