DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Chandigarh Smart City Limited & Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, organised the Second 'Healthy Streets Capacity Building Workshop' on 19 and 20 December, 2022 in The Lalit Hotel, in partnership with the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, ITDP, the knowledge partner, Patiala Foundation and Municipal Corporation Chandigarh. Anindita Mitra Chief Executive Officer, Chandigarh Smart City Limited welcomed Nitin Kumar Yadav, Secretary Local Government, UT Administration, Chandigarh, Rahul Kapoor, Director, Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Councillors of Municipal Corporation Chandigarh, Sivasubramanium, National Lead Transport Systems and Electric Mobility, participants, partners from ITDP for being a part of Healthy Streets Capacity Building Workshop. "Walking and cycling are the cleanest ways to get around a city, and both can have enormous benefits for health, greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, road safety and equity. Despite it being the most environment friendly, healthy and low-cost mode of travel, cycling, for many upper-class urban Indians, is merely another way to keep fit. However, for a sizeable number of people who are employed in the informal sector, cycling is a vital component of their work lives.", said Nitin Kumar Yadav, Secretary Local Government, UT Administration, Chandigarh during the inaugural session of the workshop. Rahul Kapoor, Director, Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs said- "Through the India Cycles4Change and Streets4People Challenges, we have collectively achieved more than 500km of healthy streets in the last few years. These Challenges have helped us imagine and realise a world beyond cars. However, the real success will be when we scale up not just across, but beyond the cities enrolled under these Challenges." "Lately, walking, cycling, and public transport have become so rare that we find people celebrating their occasional usage on social media. We are forgetting that these were an integral part of our lifestyle earlier. So, it is crucial to explore and understand how to bring back this culture of cycling and walking, to embed it in our lifestyles, and collectively move towards healthy streets and healthy lives.", said Sivasubramanium, National Lead Transport Systems and Electric Mobility. Speaking about the experiential learning sessions, Anindita Mitra said, "We have planned Site visits to Capitol Complex, Sector 17 Pedestrian Underpass, Sector 17 Pedestrian Plaza & Urban Park Public Space. These pedestrian prioritised public spaces & monuments are unique jewels of Chandigarh and demonstrate how safety, health and comfort of the people are prioritised." (editor@dailyworld.in)