Kolkata: As a first step in transforming Kolkata and its three satellite towns – Rajarhat, Bidhannagar and New Town into eco – friendly cities, the state government has decided that by 2030 the state capital will have only CNG and e-vehicles.
Transport Minister Firhad Hakim said at a recent meeting: “Since 2011, plans have been made to create a smart city, a green city in the state. The city has long had an eco-friendly tram and ‘ “An underground metro. There are plans to introduce electric buses. Already 300 government buses in Kolkata have been converted to CNG”.
“Currently, 100 electric buses are running in Kolkata and the state government plans to launch more than 1,000 CNG buses on the city roads soon,” said the outgoing mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
“We have drawn up a detailed transport plan. “We will gradually phase out vehicles powered by fossil fuels from the city and replace the fleet with compressed natural gas and electric vehicles,” said Hakim.
“Cars will also run on CNG and electricity.” Hakim said, adding that the state government planned to set up 3,500 charging stations in greater Kolkata and promised that CNG would reach the city by pipe in two years.
“For private electric vehicles, we could consider a tax cut to encourage the switch,” he added.
Kolkata is one of the more polluted cities in India and much of the dirty air is due to diesel-powered public transportation.
Although environmentalists pointed out that the government often did not show the speed that Hakim promised to endure, the Prime Minister of Transport assured that the government is eager to introduce environmentally friendly public transport to make the city a cleaner and greener environment.
New Town has already been identified as a Green City. The state government made every effort to make the whole of New Town eco-friendly. Solar panels, separate bike paths, public bike parts systems, green buildings, electric charging stations are also being built.
Hakim said plans have been made to build Kolkata and New Town model cities in the first phase and this model will then be repeated for other cities in the state.
Source: Telangana Today