New Delhi, May 2
Promising to tackle air pollution and traffic congestion in a phased manner, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday launched 400 electric buses and promised to induct another 2,080 of these smoke-free vehicles under the Delhi Electric Vehicle Interconnector (DEVI) scheme this year.
Speaking at the launch event, the CM highlighted her government’s commitment to give clean air to Delhiites but added that e-buses were just a part of the strategy, which also requires more and more private vehicles to go electric.
“We will come out with an EV policy to give incentives and encourage private vehicle owners to use these pollution-free vehicles,” she said.
The launch of the new fleet of nine-metre green mini-buses is a major step towards revolutionising the national capital’s public transport sector, counter pollution and providing last-mile connectivity to users of Metro.
The Chief Minister said she had allotted Rs 9,000 crore in the Budget for speeding up the adoption of electric vehicles and promised to boost the charging infrastructure and arrange facilities at bus depots.
“We will work at ‘Triple Engine Sarkar’ to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of ‘Viksit Delhi’,” she said.
Highlighting the problem of traffic jams, she said, “I, myself, was caught in a jam while coming to this event and could feel the frustration that any other vehicle owner suffers due to congestion on the road.”