The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will launch 600 e-rickshaws in the city on Monday and put into effect the city’s first electric three-wheelers zone (ETWZ), officials said on Sunday. Diesel and CNG autorickshaws will not be allowed to operate in the zone, they said.
The initiative is part of project ‘Parivartan’, the state’s first e-three-wheeler ecosystem project, and has been started in Gurgaon by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), Gurugram Traffic Police and Haryana Transport Department in collaboration with SmartE.
Areas under e-zone
The zone selected for the purpose is the MCG’s Zone 3, which includes key areas such as Cyber City, Golf Course Road, MG Road, IFFCO Chowk, HUDA City Centre, Galleria Market, and Sushant Vyapar Kendra Road.
For charging the e-three-wheelers, officials said charging stations have been set up by the SmartE company at various places. In addition, shuttle service will also be provided in the zone.
Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar kicked off the e-rickshaws from Galleria Market around 11am. While 150 e-rickshaws were flagged off from the Galleria Market, 450 started off from other points in the zone.
Aim to launch e-zones
Launching the initiative on Monday, Khattar said, “Environmental pollution is a matter of concern and vehicular pollution is a big problem. Under the Parivartan project, this initiative has been started in Gurgaon today and a target has been set to launch 5,000 such e- three-wheelers here. In addition, this project will be started not just in Gurgaon but also in other metros of Haryana.”
“This is a joint effort of the MCG, regional transport authority (RTO), and Gurugram traffic police. Under this project, initially, 2,000 diesel-powered three-wheelers will be replaced at a cost of around ₹6 crore by e-three wheelers,” the spokesperson for the district administration stated in a release.
Penalty on diesel auto drivers
Gurugram traffic police and MCG officials have been carrying out awareness programmes for diesel autorickshaw drivers since July and cautioned them that upon entering the barred zone, they will be penalised and that repeated offences may lead to vehicles being impounded.
Efforts in this regard have been underway since last September. MCG officials did not disclose the fare details of the 600 e-rickshaws. However, they said that the fee will be nominal.
During his visit on Monday, the Chief Minister also inaugurated two other projects related to the environment – a water supply project of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) for Sectors 81 to 99 of Gurgaon, and a waste-to-energy plant for Sonipat and Panipat.
A spokesperson for the district administration said that Khattar will inaugurate three projects in the city, costing around ₹259 crore, and preside over the district grievance redressal meeting on Monday afternoon.
Source: indiatimes.com
