PUNE: State minister of tourism and environment Aditya Thackeray on Wednesday said all vehicles purchased or hired for use by the government from April 2022 would strictly be those running on electricity.
“Heavy losses will be incurred if the cars currently in use by the government are replaced with electric vehicles (EV). But any new cars bought or hired by the government from April 2022 will be electric vehicles,” he said while addressing a news conference in the city.
He said charging stations should be made available at petrol pumps and parking lots of housing societies and single buildings to encourage the use of electric vehicles.
Thackeray said the government had a plan to make Pune a carbon neutral city by 2030. “Green house gas inventory of 43 cities will be conducted to understand what remedies should be undertaken. Pune should qualify to be one of the top 10 Bloomberg cities. We have spoken to the Pune divisional commissioner to appoint a point-person for the initiative.”
He said, “Ever since the ban on single use plastic five years ago, the bar has been set high for Pune because the city is considered to be the knowledge capital of Maharashtra and the industrial powerhouse of the country. It is a place where citizens participate in cleaning campaigns at riversides as part of their weekend plans.”
He said, “There has been a good response from NGOs, corporates and individuals for Majhi Vasundharaa, an initiative by the environment and climate change department to encourage active participation in various climate change mitigation initiatives in the state’s urban and rural areas.”
Thackeray said the government was in talks with Pune International Centre (PIC) and Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) to work towards climate-resilient agriculture in the state. “The rains have been unreliable due to climate change over the past five-six years. We are trying to collaborate efforts to look for various ways to improve the situation. Focus will be on implementation of drip irrigation, rain water harvesting and intervention of technology where it can be helpful,” he said.
Along with working towards carbon neutrality, the minister said, efforts would be taken to increase the use of electric vehicles, cycling tracks, urban forests and solid waste management in the entire Pune Metropolitan Region.
Thackeray also visited the plant of the electric vehicle maker Kinetic Green, where he toured the facilities and was shown its inventory. He sought for an aggressive implementation of the new electric vehicle policies, adding that the state government would implement the purchase policies for such buses and cars, as well as vehicles for waste management and tourism.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
