Under the West Bengal Traffic Regulation Act of 1965, the Kolkata police have barred bicycles from 174 thoroughfares, a blanket ban in effect, from August 2013. The ban includes cycles, cycle vans, handcart, pull-carts and bakery vans [1]. Earlier in 2008, Kolkata traffic police, in an order, prohibited cycling on 38 major thoroughfares. Despite earlier protests by cyclists and environment groups, more roads were added to the list. In June 2013, it published a gazette notification prohibiting cycles on 174 roads. While on some roads cycling is prohibited altogether, in most cases cycles are not allowed to ply between 7 am and 11 pm [3,4] According to city traffic police the cycle ban was to ensure that traffic flow is not disturbed by the mix of fast-moving vehicles and cycles, as Calcutta has no provision for dedicated cycling tracks. There are also security concerns as cycles are often used to plant bombs [5] Activists have come out against this ban on cycling in Kolkata. They argued that the decision will harm the environment, affect the livelihood of poor people and add to the transport woes of the already-congested city [1] Social activist Medha Patkar has appealed to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to revoke the blanket ban on cycling in Kolkata [6].