by Ashis Sinha
Meet, Bhupinder Singh Popli, the man and his brain behind a new initiative— ‘Happy Street’ which was recently launched in the steel City Bokaro in Jharkhand, aimed at encouraging people to lead healthier lifestyles. The recent realisation of his vision of a flourishing community has put a smile on the faces of Bokarites and renewed vitality in their bodies.
Presently, Popli is the Chairman of Global Active City Committee, Bokaro and he is the Chief General Manager, Town Administration at SAIL’s Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL).
The goal of the ‘Happy Street’ programme is to promote healthy lifestyles by encouraging people to engage in physical activities and make use of modes of non-motorist transport, said Popli.
“The theme of ‘Happy Street’ is having fun on the street. In the street, we can do whatever we want. There are few opportunities to have fun on the road. We can play Basketball, Table Tennis, Cricket, Boxing, Yoga, Karatey, Music, Singing, Dancing, Jogging, Painting, and anything else we want,” he added.
“This was my dream with a new imagination. This came in my mind while I was on vacation in Vizag City a few years ago. I set out for an early morning stroll and saw that the children were skating and playing in the road, adults were walking and running, and traffic was stopped dead on one side of the street. I was moved by the idea and wanted to see it realised in my hometown,” he said.
Now, we intend to cover 52 weeks of Sundays on the happy street— around 1 km stretch from Gandhi Chowk to Bokaro Mall on 6 to 9 am, on the road also known as the Mahatma Gandhi Path in Sector 4 of Bokaro Steel City, he said.
Director-in-Charge of SAIL, Bokaro Amarendu Prakash recently launched the Happy Street programme under the IOC supported Global Active City campaign at India’s First Partner City Bokaro. Over 10000 people from various schools, NGOs, private organizations including CISF, JAP, Rotary Club, Lions Club were participated in the event with their full enthusiasm. The event was held on the road and one side of the road was completely blocked from 6 am to 9 am.
Expressing happiness Popli said, with the launch of this programme, my dreams of a healthy society have come true. “The idea of providing various activities to the public and raising awareness about the importance of physical health and living a happy life brought a lot of joy to the city’s residents; it instilled new energy in them,” added Popli.
Jaideep Sarkar International Coach & Lead Officer, Global Active City (GAC) Bokaro said, “With the launching of a Happy Street program, sports culturing mission got a boost through the prestigious Global Active City campaign at India’s First Partner City today.”
Meanwhile, the salubrious initiative was significantly congratulated by the International Olympic Committee supported Global Active City authorities from Lausanne, Switzerland.
