The Delhi government’s Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDC), in partnership with Raahgiri Foundation and WRI India, will be organising ‘Raahgiri Day’ in Burari this Sunday, March 6 from 7:30 am to 10:30 am to promote citizen engagement towards reducing Delhi’s share of pollution.

The road from Pushta Road Baba Colony to Pradhan Colony will be cordoned off for a few hours this Sunday morning – so that citizens can come together in large numbers and use the street for recreation that promotes health, wellbeing, fitness, togetherness and joy.

This is the fourth ‘Raahgiri Day’ being hosted by Delhi Government to promote its citizen-engagement campaign against pollution, ‘Yuddh Pradushan Ke Virudh’. Earlier, Raahgiri Day was organised that saw enthusiastic local participation in Patparganj, Najafgarh, and Greater Kailash.

On ‘Raahgiri Day’, children and adults will be invited to cycle, skate, run and walk, to partake in community leisure activities such as street games, street dancing, nukkad natak, music bands, and to learn yoga, aerobics, Zumba, painting and other arts. The event will be attended by Delhi residents, especially school children, artists, fitness experts, representatives from residential societies etc. Arrangements have been made so that neighbourhood residents are not inconvenienced and emergency services are not affected.

Vice Chairperson, DDC, Jasmine Shah said, “The concept of ‘Raahgiri Day’ was adopted by DDC Delhi as it helps foster a sense of belonging to the community and participating in the fun activities together is a wonderful, joyous way to come together for common community goals.”

He said, “By creating open streets and public spaces for such fun community activities, Delhi Government has also shown its commitment to promoting public health, well-being, fitness, togetherness, and joy. As a result, ‘Raahgiri Day’ has been gradually growing into a mass movement with many people reaching out to us in order to host similar initiatives in their areas.”

DDC Delhi will soon release a toolkit to enable motivated citizens to take initiative to bring together their communities and organise such a ‘Raahgiri Day’ in their own neighbourhoods.

Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha said, “We want all residents in Burari to reduce usage of private vehicles, with at least one less trip a week. This will go a long way in reducing pollution and building healthier lifestyle habits.”

Co-founder of Raahgiri Foundation, Sarika Panda Bhatt said, “‘Raahgiri Day’ celebrates the fact that cities are meant for people, not cars. By giving people a chance to reimagine their streets, they begin to demand it more, and we move a step closer to safer and cleaner streets.”