Kolkata beats London in e-bus penetration; stands third globally: Trinamool

Kolkata: Kolkata ranks third in the world among six global mega cities in adopting electric mobility and in fact, the City of Joy has even left London behind in ensuring penetration of electric buses (e-buses) as means of public transport, Bratya Basu, state minister for technical education said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference at Trinamool Bhavan Basu said The EV City Casebook 2021 had conducted a global survey and had ranked the cities depending on the use of e-buses.

The cities as per the usage are Shenzhen ( China), Santiago (Chili), Kolkata (India), London (United Kingdom) and Vancouver (Canada). "It is a proud moment for us as the opposition leaders are always there to find fault with others," Basu said.

He said: Mamata Banerjee had taken the initiative in 2019 and there are 100 e-buses in Kolkata and by 2030, 5,000 electric buses would be deployed across the state. It may mentioned that it was in New Town tha electric buses were first introduced on May 1, 2018.

The buses ply on three routes. Till November 9, 2019 more than 2.14 lakh passengers had availed the buses.

Taking cue from its success, the state Transport decided to introduced electric buses across the state.

There are e-vehicles which are used by the state Power minister Sobhandeb Chatterjee, Chief Secretary and other senior bureaucrats.

To protest against the price hike of diesel and petrol, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee went to Nabanna in an e-scooter from her residence.

It was driven by the state Urban development minister Firhad Hakim. While coming back home Banerjee tried to drive the scooter.

The greater use of e-buses and electric vehicles in the state is helping in curbing pollution.