Bamboo bicycles launched in Manipur

Imphal, Apr 6 (ANI): Manipur has launched bicycles made out of bamboo in a bid to introduce green sensibility in the state.

The bicycles were launched at the four-day 'Cycle for Life' workshop held in Imphal earlier this week.

The event was organised by the Manipur Cycle Club (MCC) in collaboration with the Manipur Bamboo Mission and the South Asia Bamboo Foundation (SABF).

SABF founder Kamesh Salam said he was inspired to introduce bamboo bicycles to the streets of Manipur following a trip to Ghana in Africa.

"Firstly, I was inspired by the Manipur Cycle Club, who has been insisting that we should make bamboo cycle. Secondly, I was inspired by the success story in Ghana, Zambia and in many other parts of Africa that bamboo cycle really exists. So that prompted me why not in Manipur, where cycle and bamboo are part of our life," said Salam.

The MCC, a non-governmental organisation, encourages people to adopt the use of bicycles in order to reduce traffic and air pollution.

"It's a newly launched organisation formed by some volunteers who were interested in environment, eco-friendly (concept) and low traffic congestion. So with that aim, we started organising cycle events, we tried to popularise the cycle in our congested Imphal. We thought that how can we change and produce cheap cycles by using local raw materials? So with this, we stared with this project," said Aribam Joy Sharma, a member of the MCC.

Bamboo, a perennial grass, is found in every continent except Europe and Antarctica and is abundant in southern Asia.

There are around 255 varieties of bamboo. 57 varieties of Bamboo are found in India, out of which 44 are found in the country's northeast region alone. (ANI)