Advertisement
New Delhi: On Thursday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena jointly flagged off 500 electric buses, taking the number of such buses in the national capital to 1,300. Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said no other city in India has these many electric buses on service.
CM Mr Kejriwal told reporters,”Delhi now has 1,300 buses, which is the highest in any city in India. We have to improve the transport sector.” He added, “I want to congratulate the people of Delhi on this occasion. I also want to thank the LG for taking time out of his busy schedule to grace this occasion. We now have 1300 electric buses in Delhi. We will continue to strengthen Delhi’s transport system.”
In a post on social media platform X, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said, “Congrats Delhi!!! We’re celebrating another huge milestone today! Flagged off 500 new E-buses along with Hon’ble CM @ArvindKejriwal and Hon’ble @LtGovDelhi. Success is never overnight, it is a guaranteed result of Consistency! We are yet again leading the way with a record 1300 e-e-buses.
An official said that around 800 such buses have been running on Delhi roads since January 2022 and they have covered a distance of more than 42 million kilometres while cutting more than 34,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide so far. According to the official, By 2025, Delhi will have a total of 10,480 buses with electric ones making up 80 per cent of the fleet. This will help cut 4.67 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
The new buses have said to be accessible, air-conditioned, emit zero smoke and noise, and are equipped with GPS, CCTVs and panic buttons. The transition from diesel-based buses to electric buses is expected to make a significant improvement to the air quality of the city due to a reduction in carbon emissions.
