More e-rickshaws need of the hour for Ggn residents

GURUGRAM: Poor public transportation is considered one of the main reasons for spiralling levels of pollution in the Millennium City.

To tackle this issue effectively, more than 500 e-rickshaws were recently flagged off at HUDA City Centre, so that they can be a viable alternative to the diesel autos.

Now, more than two months after the introduction of a large fleet of these electric vehicles, a new challenge has arisen in the form of excessive demand for e-rickshaws, especially in industrial areas, so as to reduce pollution levels.

Most e-rickshaws, which run on batteries, still ply in areas around Sikanderpur and DLF Cyber City.

Irked by the rising levels of pollution in their neighbourhood, many professionals and residents are demanding that the reach of e-rickshaws must be extended to at least into the industrial areas.

Lakhs of people are employed in various industrial units, located in Udyog Vihar, Sector-37 and Manesar. Most of these people still rely on diesel autos for transportation.

"Poor transportation facility in Gurugram is a well known fact. More trouble is faced by people who reside or work in the area which are farther from Delhi. Today, in Udyog Vihar-VI and Manesar, workers only have diesel-run autos, which are severely polluting the environment," says Praveen Singla, a Gurugram resident.

For long, there have been demands for phasing out the diesel-run autos and private run buses in the city, and replace them by vehicles which run on CNG.

However, a poor public transportation infrastructure has led to these vehicles still remaining the only option.