State takes initiative to spread awareness amongst people about heritage of the tram

Kolkata: The West Bengal Transport Corporation has taken a unique move to keep the trams clean by making commuters aware of its heritage.

Artwork depicting its rich heritage will be put up at each compartment o the trams and at the same time it will also carry a message in all three languages - Bengali, Hindi and English - requesting people to keep the trams clean.

The idea is to make the youth aware of the heritage of Kolkata and history of trams that will also instill a sense of pride about the city's heritage as the tram service began in 1873 and got electrified in 1900. and the electric tram cars have been adorning the city of joy since 1902.

The move has been taken after the authorities found that often a section of passengers throw banana peels, groundnut peels, spit while chewing betel leaves inside the tram itself. The move has been taken considering it will create awareness among commuters and restrain them from doing the same.

When contacted, WBTC Managing Director Rajanvir Singh Kapur said: "The idea is to nudge the people to respect the heritage, make children aware of tram history and keep it clean." The tram service was suspended in March due to the lockdown. Again the service, though on only one single route from Tollygunge to Ballygunge, had resumed on June 14 as it had not become possible to operate the same on all usual six routes due to the damage caused by super cyclone Amphan. The WBTC engineers are working to resume the service on all the routes at the earliest. The service on another route that is from Rajabazar to Howrah Bridge will resume from the first week of July. The tram service is now available from 7 am to 8 pm at intervals of every 25 minutes. Wearing masks and maintaining other protocols by passengers is a must while travelling in a tram.