UN panel lauds Bengal for efforts made to combat climate change

Kolkata: State Transport minister Firhad Hakim on Saturday said that the dedicated efforts of the government in shifting to e-transport to reduce pollution in the city has contributed to the UN panel's latest report lauding the city transport and citing it as an illustrative case study "to showcase how integrated action can combat climate change."

The UN panel's latest report on mitigation of climate change has showcased Kolkata in respect of shifting from private to public transport in Indian megacities.

"We are making a detailed planning on encouraging and promoting e-vehicles in the city. Our air quality index this year has improved this year with our constant efforts to curb pollution. To incentivise investment in battery-operated two-and four-wheel electric vehicles, the state government has exempted registration fee and road tax for the next 2 years," Hakim said.

Hakim added that the suggestions in the UN panel report will be followed for further improvement in this regard.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in its report that there are as many as 12 different modes of public transportation, each with its own system structure and offer means of mobility to the city's 14 million citizens.

The report states that besides, new buses, including the fuel-efficient, comfortable and low-floor AC buses have been purchased by the public authorities in view of the city's hot and humid climate.

More thoughtful action at a policy level is required to sustain and coordinate the diversity of public transport modes through infrastructure design and reflecting on the overall directionality of change, it added.