In India, a rally combining clean streets and soft mobility

The city of Lucknow certainly lived up to its name on this day in June 2023! Situated in the middle of the Ganges River plain, the city was indeed “lucky” to welcome an original cycling event organised by SUEZ India. Leading the pack were SUEZ employees, sewer cleaning workers and young girls from the Girl Icon programme orchestrated jointly by the Milaan Foundation and SUEZ India.

With the backdrop of World Bicycle Day, the cycling rally intended to promote an active and sustainable lifestyle, but also called upon on people’s sense of civic responsibility. The girls, residents of shanty towns, supported by the Milaan Foundation¹, were out in force to emphasise the importance of refraining from throwing away waste or plastics into the drainage system.

“Through events like this, we want to promote sustainable behaviour, discourage people from disposing of garbage in open drains and manholes, but also encourage a sense of the community’s shared responsibility towards the environment”, explains Rajesh Mathpal, project director.

This initiative is part of the program “SUEZ India Force for Good” which focuses on group employee wellbeing. Three key themes were defined by the Communications and Human Resource teams following a staff consultation process: financial and environmental wellbeing and mental health.

1) This foundation, of which SUEZ is a partner, advocates for adolescent health and the secondary schooling of girls, and combats child marriage and gender-based violence.

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