THIS refers to the article ‘Pedal power’ in (Nov 9). Some years ago, when I was on a visit to Copenhagen, during sightseeing I saw a smartly-dressed young lady coming out of a store. I thought that a chauffeured-car would be waiting for her and that she would be regally driven off. Instead, she walked up to a cycle stand, opened the chain lock, turned around, as if to read my thoughts, smiled and rode away on a rickety old bicycle.

I turned to a gentleman standing and asked him why the young lady was riding a cycle. His reply was: “We Danes like to keep our cities healthy and free of pollution.”

Amsterdam was another example where I observed cycle rickshaws shuttling tourists around the city and more bicycles than auto cars.

Cycling as a recreational sport may be an exciting hobby but all clubs connected with this adventure must bear in mind that Karachi is a dusty, windy city with dangerous levels of pollution and noise decibels.

Blackened buildings and trees in and around the Tibet Centre and the heavily-trafficked Boulton Market area are age-old examples. Pollution has been declared as one of the major causes of heart ailments besides respiratory diseases.

All cycling clubs in the country should also make efforts to fight pollution.

S.R. Mehdi

Karachi

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2014