Pakistan is making two million motorbikes to its domestic market each year. Suppose this trend continues and we make 50 million bikes in Pakistan, then what will be the fuel costs and how much pollution they will emit? Already motor bikes are present in prodigious numbers. At every signal and every roundabout hundreds of bikes are always ready to choke the road. I have a question, “What if instead of motorbikes we promote bicycles?” They have many benefits in the form of better health and cleaner environment.
Bicycles are wonderfully cheap and are highly useful; especially where commuting distances are not far, due to slow speed bicycles usually cause fewer accidents than motorbikes. In London, the government has allocated one promenade for exclusive use of cyclists. In Doha, Qatar government lends a bicycle to anyone who wants to ride it. We should promote bicycles in this energy starved and economy strained atmosphere.
MUHAMMAD ASHTAR,
Faisalabad, March 15.