Eco -friendly bamboo bicycles can become good alternative

Nagpur, June 4

In the Covid pandemic the craze of bicycles has increased twofold among the citizens from a fitness point of view. For the last one and half year period people are using bicycle physical exercise. When people are looking for ways to develop environment friendly ways to travel, then bicycles made out of complete bamboo will be the most efficient means of transportation when it comes to cutting down on pollution.

Bamboo Research and Training Centre (BRTC) located at Chichpalli in Chandrapur district has developed the bicycle made completely out of bamboo five years ago but unfortunately in India so far bamboo bicycles have no takers. Talking to Lokmat Times the handicraft supervisor of BRTC Kishor Gaikwad said, “ The objective behind developing the bi-cycle out of bamboo is that it is the best replacement for wood. We generally found that trees are often cut down but they take time to regrow, however, since bamboo is a grass it can grow rapidly depending on the breed. Secondly the bicycle made out of bamboo is eco-friendly and hardly make any impact on environment.”

However, Gaikwad has regretted that people are not much aware about this bicycle. “ There is a need to create an awareness about it among the masses. In India bamboo bicycles has no takers so far. Some people have developed it just for their hobby. The main problem in the production of these bicycles is non availability of spare parts. We can't produce the spare parts at our centre. We are in the talks with some companies which can provide us parts and our aim is to provide these bicycle to the people at very affordable price”. Elaborating further he said instead of metal the frame of the bicycle is made entirely out of bamboo which is stronger and lighter an aluminum. It absorbs road vibration better than any material. Secondly using bamboo saves both time and energy spent for mining aluminum and moulding it to make frames. Gaikwad said people should switch to bamboo for sustainable future and there is a need to bring in more awareness about the uses and benefits of using bamboo.

'Need to create awareness'

'Noted city cyclist Aniruddh Raich of Ncyclopedia said in the future the bicycles made completely out of bamboo can become good alternative. However, he has regretted that as compared to some foreign countries the Indians are not aware about it much. “ I have found that in some African countries people use bicycles made out of bamboo but in India there is a need to create an awareness”. Raich also said, instead of long term benefits, the Indians always look for short term benefits and hardly bother what is good and what is bad for them,