5 eco-friendly buses arrive in Chandigarh

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 11

The wait to ride environment-friendly buses will end soon as the first fleet of five electric buses reached the city today.

Pradhuman Singh, Director, Transport, said six electric buses had been delivered so far and another six would arrive tomorrow. All remaining buses would be delivered by December 15, he added.

UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit will flag off the first fleet of electric buses for the general public on November 13. In order to reduce air and noise pollution and dependence on fossil fuels, the UT Administration has decided to replace diesel buses with electric buses.

In September last year, the Centre had sanctioned 80 electric buses for the UT under Phase II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme. The UT had floated tenders for the procurement of 40 buses in the first phase.

Three companies had submitted bids to run 40 electric buses. However, the lowest bidder, Ashok Leyland, was awarded the contract to run the environment-friendly buses for a period of 10 years on the basis of km scheme. The fare collection will be done by the authority.

On August 11, former UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore flagged off the first electric bus –Proto bus— from the Raj Bhawan to run on a trial basis for nearly 20 days. During the trial, the bus operated on the PGI-Mani Majra route.

After a one-month trial run of the first electric bus, the UT Transport Department had asked the manufacturing company to make some technical changes in the bus. The company had assured to make the required modifications and supplied the remaining buses with the changes.

Meanwhile, the process for procurement of another 40 electric buses has been started. An official said after getting approval from the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, the UT had decided to invite bids for the second batch of 40 electric buses by the end of this month. After being charged, the bus will be able to cover a distance of nearly 130 km and it will take nearly two to two and a half hours to fully charge the bus.

Equipped with...

• Air conditioning system with individual air vents
• Seating capacity of 35 passengers
• Passenger information screens at front, rear, side and inside
• Panic button in case of emergency
• Mobile charging points for each row of seats
• Pneumatically controlled passenger doors
• Air suspension at rear