On V-Day, a green message with love

Amit Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 14

While the youth his age were busy celebrating Valentine’s Day with their loved ones, Harpreet Singh, dressed in a traditional attire, decided to pedal down city roads carrying a heart-shaped placard urging people to love the city by keeping it clean and save the environment.

The 25-year-old banker, a former student of DAV College, Sector 10, drove a cycle with a heart-shaped placard hanging in the front motivating people to love the city. “I wanted to give a message to the city that there are many ways of celebrating the day of love,” he said with a smile on his face.

Harpreet believes that one can also love his city and for that one should love the environment. Dressed in a traditional Punjabi attire, Harpreet asked the youth on Geri Route to plant trees and keep their surroundings clean.

Harpreet said since he wanted to raise the issue of saving environment, he decided to pedal from Mohali to Chandigarh and spread the message.

“Besides, I also want to create awareness among city residents to respect those cycling around the city. Motorists often honk at cyclists as if they have committed a crime by riding bicycles on busy roads,” he said.

By evening, Harpreet had travelled across many parts of the city, including Sukhna Lake and Sector 17, to educate people about saving environment.

Insensitive police?

While Harpreet was on his green mission on Valentine’s Day, police personnel on duty in Sector 10 did their bid to discourage him. A cop on duty opposite the Sector 10 petrol pump, on noticing people stopping there to get pictures clicked with Harpreet, that was leading to a rush, threatened Harpreet that he would be put behind bars if he stopped anywhere on Geri Route. The police forced him to leave the spot.