Delhi’s cyclists who journey between life and death

It’s 8.30 a.m. connected an April morning. Soon, temperatures volition physique up to 40 degrees Celsius. Traffic peaks astatine a T-junction successful southbound Delhi, astir 15 kilometres from the Haryana border. The greenish airy volition crook to amber successful 20 seconds. Vehicles contention to marque it done the signal. Ajay rises somewhat disconnected his bicycle seat, his torso pushing guardant with each pedal, to summation momentum. A autobus cuts close; horns blare. He moves among the clump of 20-30 workers connected bicycles. They jostle for abstraction down buses, e-rickshaws, cars, and motorcycles — the mixed postulation bane of a processing economy.

“Jo 10 seconds isko cross karne mein bitate hain, yehi sabse bhari hai (The 10 seconds astatine this intersection are the hardest)”, Ajay says, pausing briefly. His thin, faded bluish fabric shirt, damp with sweat, clings to his frame. He removes the gamcha (scarf) looped astir his cervix and pours h2o implicit it to hitch his face. “It is going to get worse,” helium says, of the vigor and 3 much intersections helium indispensable navigate to scope his workplace. He rides 27 kilometres regular from Faridabad to Green Park, wherever helium works arsenic a information guard.

Within 5 minutes, astir 200 cyclists transverse the Hamdard intersection, heading to their workplaces successful southbound and cardinal Delhi. Among them are information guards, salespeople, regular wagers, and mill workers, astir riding successful from Delhi’s affordable peripheries. None earns much than ₹20,000. Most transportation h2o and luncheon successful a container strapped to the handlebars oregon connected their shoulders.

Over a week, The Hindu spoke to 54 radical who question astatine slightest 20 km six days a week connected their steel-frame roadsters: Avons, Neelams, Atlases, and Heroes. Nearly fractional of them person met with accidents, immoderate starring to superior injuries, but they proceed to trust connected bicycles arsenic their superior vehicle. Their determination to pedal connected routes linking their homes to concern and commercialized corridors comes down to affordability and entree to nationalist transportation.

According to information from the 2011 Census, astir 10 lakh out of 85 lakh workers successful Delhi cycled to work. The archetypal draught Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) 2041, released successful 2021, besides notes that walking and cycling represent 42% of the “total trips”. As aspirational automobiles have taken implicit Delhi’s roadworthy networks implicit the past mates of decades, segregated cycling lanes stay sparse.

In 2015, the Delhi authorities reframed cycling arsenic a “recreational sport”, announcing plans to make cycling tracks connected cardinal stretches of the metropolis and parks. In doing so, it sidelined the existing cycling civilization of those compelled by debased wage and the deficiency of last-mile connectivity to nationalist transport to commute the dilatory mode done vigor waves and smog.

The Delhi Economic Survey 2025-26 doesn’t number non-motor vehicles. It outlines galore projects for elevated roads and flyovers, ft over-bridges, and the metro network. There is nary notation of cycling networks. In fact, bicycles don’t necessitate registration oregon licensing. Much of the caller argumentation absorption has been connected electrical vehicles, which doesn’t widen to existing cyclists.

Who cycles, and why

Travelling from his colony adjacent the Loni border betwixt Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, Shriram Sharma crosses six engaged intersections successful his two-hour-long thrust to scope his information defender occupation astatine a authorities instauration successful cardinal Delhi astatine 1 p.m. With his displacement ending astatine 10 p.m., helium returns adjacent to midnight. Through the heatwave, helium says the exertion doubles, and helium has to instrumentality breaks. The 52-year-old has held antithetic jobs since 1991. His past was arsenic a harmonium teacher. He learnt to play astatine 36 from a antheral astatine the colony temple. “In a fewer months, I began to thatch astatine a backstage schoolhouse adjacent my village. Though the gigs were few, it was the astir fulfilling clip of my life,” helium says. Sharma cannot spend that beingness immoderate more. “I americium the lone earning subordinate of the family,” helium says. He cannot spend buses either due to the fact that a day’s travel costs betwixt ₹80 and ₹100, and helium earns lone ₹17,500 a month. He has been commuting this mode since 2007.

The Delhi Government says it is replacing the city’s declining autobus fleet. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had announced successful March 2026 that by the extremity of the year, Delhi would person 7,000 buses, up from the existent 6,300. She added the metropolis would request 14,000 buses by 2029, which the authorities would provide.

Sandeep Kumar, 23, cycles astir 20 km, from north-east Delhi’s Ram Park to Chandni Chowk, wherever helium works astatine a wholesale stationery store making ₹12,000 a month. He started moving astatine 16 aft dropping retired of schoolhouse to enactment his family. Soaked successful sweat, helium says the travel itself is not the problem. “The noise, the heat, and acheronian stretches without lights. Those are difficult,” helium says. He pauses nether the elevated agelong of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway to bargain h2o portion returning connected a humid April evening. The postulation reverberates each around. “There are hardly immoderate footpaths for walkers. A due cycling web sounds similar a fantasy,” Kumar says.

In 2020, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) came up with a five-year program to make 200 km of a cycle-walk network. Its archetypal 36 km stay successful the works, accidental officials. What has been constructed is obstructed successful galore places by parked cars and debris. Nearly each the workers The Hindu spoke to are migrants whose families moved to the Capital for work. Most were forced to driblet retired of schoolhouse to enactment their families. “What matters is having a occupation with a dependable wage and redeeming each rupee we tin to guarantee our children person a amended life,” says Mohammed Jamal, 43, an artisan astatine a boutique successful Greater Kailash. He rides 40 minutes 1 mode due to the fact that the autobus halt is 2 km distant from his house. Jamal says helium was frightened of cycling arsenic a young kid but learnt arsenic a teen due to the fact that ‘majboori (compulsion)’ beats fear.

An economical achromatic roadster typically starts astatine ₹3,000, and workers often opt for second-hand ones. They accidental a rhythm lasts for 5 years with timely repairs but interest much astir their cycles being stolen.

Women thrust successful disguise

In the Delhi government’s 2026-27 budget, ₹90 crore has been allocated to springiness astir 1.3 lakh girls successful Class 9 escaped bicycles to assistance them commute to schoolhouse and trim dropout rates. While the inaugural has worked successful different States, Rachna Singh, successful her 30s, says she finds it hard to navigate Delhi’s roads dominated by antheral workers. She dresses to debar attention: She wears her son’s apparel and covers her look with a black dupatta. Cycling 25 km 1 mode to Chirag Delhi from Khanpur, Rachna is moving precocious connected a Wednesday morning. While her 12-hour displacement arsenic a information defender starts astatine 10.30 a.m., her time starts astatine 4 a.m. There is the day’s cleaning, cooking and packing of lunch. She gets location lone by midnight.

“I utilized to consciousness frightened astatine nighttime successful the archetypal fewer weeks. Those driving cars and riding bikes utilized to harass me. It stopped erstwhile I changed the mode I dressed,” she recalls. Rachna doesn’t transportation a mobile telephone with her; her lad carries hers.

She took up the occupation aft COVID arsenic indebtedness interests started adding up. “One person’s income successful a large metropolis is not enough,” she says. After her hubby bought a motorcycle, his rhythm became hers. “Buses were precise crowded successful the time and astatine night, they were empty, oregon didn’t amusement up. I struggled a lot. So, I switched to the cycle,” she says.

Women cyclists are rare. The Hindu encountered lone 2 among the 54 radical it spoke to crossed corridors successful south, east, north, and cardinal Delhi. A 2021 survey crossed 19 cities successful 13 countries, the results of which were published successful the peer-reviewed journal Transportation, recovered that women are, connected average, fractional arsenic apt arsenic men to cycle. In Delhi, the spread is sharper. Only astir 1.1% of women reported cycling compared with 6.9% of men. For enactment trips, women relied much connected walking (37.6%) and nationalist transport (34.4%). Studies constituent to the fearfulness of harassment and battle arsenic a deterrent.

The risks and bargains

Two summers ago, 27-year-old Mohammed Gurfan was deed by a car astatine the U-turn helium indispensable marque connected his regular commute astatine astir 9:30 a.m. “My garment was soaked successful blood,” helium recalls, describing however the car deed him. “The operator simply overtook and left.” It took 4 months for him to retrieve but helium inactive had to amusement up to work, traversing the aforesaid way to R.K. Puram, 14 kilometres distant from home. “I get tense connected flyovers, wherever cars and motorcycles speed. Anybody tin deed america and thrust implicit us. As if our lives are arsenic inexpensive arsenic the bicycles we ride,” Gurfan says.

Cyclists person doubly the fatality hazard per kilometre arsenic motorcycle occupants and astir 40 times greater hazard than car occupants, according to a survey published successful 2024, successful the International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion. U-turns are a beardown hazard origin for bicycle fatalities successful Delhi, on with medians, crossings, intersections, and roundabouts, the survey states. Senior riders, like Diwakar, successful his 60s, locomotion their cycles done engaged stretches. His cycle, similar astir others, has neither a headlight nor a doorbell due to the fact that those are feeble successful examination to the lights and horns of centrifugal vehicles connected Delhi’s roads.

The deficiency of empathy for cyclists bothers Sonu, Gurfan, and Diwakar on each trip. ‘Hum log dikhte nahi hain, na log humko dekhna chahte hain (People don’t spot us; nor bash they privation to)’, says Sonu. He describes the roadworthy arsenic a abstraction wherever entree is unevenly held. “Like successful villages, immoderate radical power shared resources. On roads, those with much instrumentality much space,” helium says.

One of the authors of the 2021 study, Rahul Goel, says, “Areas wherever radical rhythm should usher wherever infrastructure comes up. Much of Delhi’s cycling happens successful peripheral areas,” wherever low-income populations unrecorded and work. Goel is an adjunct prof astatine IIT Delhi’s Transportation Research and Injury Prevention (TRIP) centre.

In 2026, DDA took up gathering rhythm tracks connected the Yamuna floodplains, stretching implicit 55 km. “There is thing incorrect with gathering for recreation. But it becomes a occupation erstwhile infrastructure does not respond to the thousands who already rhythm each day,” Goel says. The draft MPD 2041 besides notes that astir of Delhi’s roads are not conducive to cyclist question owed to unequal roadworthy organisation and deficiency of infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the big rhythm marketplace shows that request remains precocious successful the low-cost roadster bicycle category. Gaurav Munjal, Managing Director of Kross bikes, a marque manufactured by Hero Ecotech Limited, says cycling for recreation is constricted to a fewer cycling groups successful metro cities. For low-cost cycles (in the ₹3,000 to 8,000 category), the contention is steep due to the fact that “even a quality of ₹500 matters”, helium adds. Part of the contention for factory-manufactured bicycles is the section trader who offers assembled cycles astatine cheaper rates.

There is nary moving on

Back astatine the engaged T-point intersection successful southbound Delhi, Naushad Saabri, 47, sets up his bicycle repair spot on the footpath of a four-lane road. There is nary signboard, nary structure, conscionable tools stacked against the footpath’s barricade. He recalls that erstwhile helium started successful 1990, “This was a single-lane road. The remainder was jungle.”

The roadworthy widened; his net did not. “I utilized to marque ₹2,000 a day. Now it is astir ₹500.” Most days bring punctures, worn-out tubes, and damaged tyres. His loyal lawsuit basal has cyclists coming from Haryana’s Ballabhgarh for yearly attraction work. “It costs them ₹1,000-1,200,” helium says. The enactment is steady, but not capable immoderate more.

With faster-moving, burgeoning traffic, helium has been witnesser to galore deadly accidents. “Most hap astatine the signal. There are truthful galore U-turns; it’s hard for cyclists,” helium says.

Saabri says helium is considering shutting the store and moving to a centrifugal garage. But helium won’t portion with his father’s bicycle, bought successful 1989. Like the Ship of Theseus, each portion of it has been replaced implicit time. “This cycle, arsenic it is now, I person made it myself,” helium says, adding that helium feels his begetter is with him arsenic helium rides it.

Saabri still rides 300 kilometres each fewer months to a dargah near his colony successful Uttar Pradesh and past further connected to Barabanki, Lucknow, Ajmer, and Uttarakhand.

In 2015, the DDA piloted a nationalist bicycle sharing task in Dwarka with the purpose of formulating a citywide policy. The study released aft pointed to respective operational challenges, and the task was stalled.

The Delhi Metro has 112 cycle-sharing points with astatine slightest 8 cycles astatine each adjacent its stations and institutions, portion the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) operates 500 e-bikes successful areas nether its jurisdiction, chiefly cardinal Delhi. These are disposable connected an app-based system, requiring smartphones.