Ahmedabad skaters are on a roll on BRTS

AHMEDABAD: The BRTS corridor has not only become a benchmark in public transport systems for other cities to follow, it is also nurturing Ahmedabad’s brightest sporting talent. Like the only two athletes from Ahmedabad - Aashna Shah and Kanika Bhalla - to be competing in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou in roller sports.
When Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited was launched in 2009, no one would have imagined the stretch would be used to train skaters.But that’s exactly happening. A public-private partnership of another kind!
Every morning between 4 am and 6 am, hundreds of skaters use the BRTS corridor for speed skating events. Parents huddle at bus stops and along the barrier. Some park their cars at the either ends of the corridor and voila, you have a road race practice track of the finest quality — safe and secure. Other pedestrians have to be warned about oncoming human traffic which can hit speeds of 60 kmph.
Rajendra Jadeja, skating coach at St Xavier’s Loyola Hall, and his group take the first segment, with Asiad hopeful Kanika among them. "We have no option, and although it is not ideal— waking up at 4.30 am and practising till the first bus arrives at exactly 6.10 - practice on the road is a must for such events. We will request the municipal corporation to make such a track available for practice," Jadeja says. Adds Kanika, "With the nationals coming up, the groups will use the BRTS corridor more often."
"In summer at coaching camps, the number of official registrations for skating outstrips cricket. While a cricket camp may get 1,000 registrations, 2,500 to 3,000 turn up to skate," says Jadeja.
"In Nagpur or Visakhapatnam designated safe zones are blocked till 7 am for skaters," Jadeja adds. "If the corporation could assign three or four such stretches, it would be ideal."
With this new training regimen, Kanika is aiming big at Guangzhou.