Kohima will participate in the India Cycles4Change Challenge under the initiative of Kohima Smart City Development Ltd (KSCDL) in partnership with various stakeholders, local champions and citizens.

Kovi Meyase, CEO, KSCDL, said Kohima is among the 95 cities in the country to have registered for the India Cycles4Change Challenge.

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It is an initiative of Smart Cities Mission, Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, which aims to inspire and support the cities to implement quick cycling-friendly initiatives in response to COVID-19.

The India Programme of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy is the knowledge partner of the Smart Cities Mission in conducting this challenge and guiding cities through it.

Through this challenge, the registered cities will implement quick interventions to create a safe and cycling-friendly city.

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The KSCDL said to ensure this transformation, Kohima is committed to working with its citizens as it develops and implements the proposals.

It sought their support in making this programme a success as community engagement is a key component of the initiative.

Kohima has already attended Workshop 1 of the Challenge that focused on the technical, community engagement, and communications components of cycling initiatives.

Over the next few weeks, the city will roll out a survey to understand citizens’ perception of cycling.

The survey aims to identify barriers to cycling in Kohima and inform the design process. The city urged all civil society organisations, consultants, corporate or concerned citizens to support it in the India Cycles4Change Challenge by registering using the link https://bit.ly/2X0UK3v.

The Challenge will run in two stages.

In Stage 1, which will run till October, the cities will pilot initiatives such as pop-up cycle lanes, host public consultations, conduct surveys, and hold campaigns to promote cycling, which will help develop a scale-up strategy.

Based on the pilots and city-wide proposals submitted, 11 cities will be shortlisted in October for Stage 2.

In Stage 2, they will be awarded Rs one crore and guided by national and international experts to scale-up the initiatives.

This stage will extend till May 2021.

During the course of the challenge, the cities will be guided through online workshops, technical knowledge material, and peer-to-peer learning discussions with fellow cities.

This will help cities strategize and implement pilots, while also developing their scale-up proposal, the KSCDL said.