Is the ambitious ‘Mo Cycle’ project of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) in tatters now? Allegations of the cycles procured under the project being sold at throwaway prices have emerged in Bhubaneswar. In addition to the hundreds of unused cycles rotting along the roadside, there are allegations that the cycles are being dismantled and are ending up at a scrap yard in Patrapada on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.
As per reports, the cycles were seen being dismantled by the workers at the scrap godown while most of them were allegedly in a functional condition. In 2018, the bicycles were procured from three companies namely Hexi, Yaana and Yulu for five years at a cost of Rs 25,000 per cycle.
However, the scrap dealer reportedly purchased 250 cycles from Hero Youon, which manages the Hexi cycles at a throwaway price of Rs 500 per piece. However, the sale of the cycles at throwaway prices has not been well received by the city residents who blamed poor management for the failure of the public-cycle-sharing scheme.
On the other hand, the manager of Hexi cycles said that the cycles in the scrap yard are damaged and the functional parts from them will be used to repair the ones on the road.