Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said that in a bid to encourage more usage of e-vehicles in the state, the State government has decided to give subsidy to the people for purchasing e-vehicles.
The government has also formulated a vehicle-scrap policy for the discontinuation of vehicles older than the prescribed period in the NCR region, said Khattar.
The Chief Minister said this while interacting with media persons after inaugurating an awareness exhibition on e-vehicles organized at the Civil Secretariat here today on the occasion of 'World Car-Free Day.
While calling upon the people of the state to protect the environment, Khattar said that the environment is getting polluted due to the continual increase in the number of vehicles.
People have considered vehicles as status symbols, due to which employees and officers use vehicles as the main mode of commuting even when they stay close to their offices, said the Chief Minister. On the occasion of 'World Car-Free Day', the Chief Minister called upon people to take a pledge to adopt a car-pooling system or to travel on foot or cycle to nearby places.
The Chief Minister said that there should be plenty of oxygen in the atmosphere, but due to increasing pollution level, the level of carbon dioxide in the environment is increasing.
Khattar further informed that Haryana Government is promoting to establish oxyvans in the state and for this, about 3 crore saplings are also being planted by the forest department. Students are being motivated towards plantation, he added.
Earlier, the Chief Minister, Education Minister Kanwar Pal, Transport Minister, Mool Chand Sharma, Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister, J.P Dalal and many MLAs drove e-scooters from Chief Minister's residence to Civil Secretariat, Haryana.