Articles by Debapriya Chanda

Debapriya Chanda is a graduate student at TISS, Mumbai and a research intern at People’s Resource Centre.

In recent times, one of the lasting representations of Kolkata in popular culture lies in an iconic scene from the film Piku, where Bhashkor Banerjee, played by Amitabh Bachchan, is seen riding a bicycle around familiar haunts, with an air of euphoria and freedom. Ironically, in spite of the humble bicycle being a symbol of nostalgia and heritage, Kolkata is also the only city in India to have widespread restrictions on cycling. Cycling used to be banned in 178 roads earlier. Presently, the bicycle ban is in place in 62 arterial roads of the city. Despite this, the city records…

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