Govt to introduce 50 new e-rickshaws in Bankura today

More than 50 e-rickshaws will be introduced in Bankura district on Thursday.

The state government has decided to replace totos with e-rickshaws. On March 10, nearly 1,000 toto drivers in South 24 Parganas had surrendered their vehicles to get e-rickshaws.

There are around two lakh totos and indigenously manufactured vans popularly known as vanos in the state. The state Transport department proposes to replace the 'vano's with e-carts.

In addition to North 24 Parganas, toto drivers in East Burdwan, Hooghly and Nadia have also shown an interest in replacing their totos. The Transport department will launch a massive campaign to create awareness among toto drivers to get their vehicles replaced.

There are around 10 e-rickshaw manufacturers in the state. While meeting senior officials of BMW in Germany in 2016, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had requested them to initiate a plan to produce e-bikes in Bengal.

The Transport department has taken up a scheme to ensure that no toto driver will become jobless. To replace their vehicles, they will get anything between Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 for surrendering their totos; they will get another Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 when their vehicles get scrapped and another Rs 25,000 to Rs 27,000 if the battery and the charger of the toto are in a good condition.

Thus, a toto driver will get anything between Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 for scrapping their vehicles. They will get a loan of Rs 50,000 from the banks to buy the new e-rickshaw and will have to make a down payment of around Rs 30,000 for the same.

A senior official of the Transport department said the manufacturers have taken up the issue with some nationalised banks and one of them had agreed to give the entire price of the e-rickshaws as loan.

The e-rickshaws are a legal, more comfortable, safe and cheaper mode of transportation.

They will have registration numbers and the vehicles will be insured. In case of an accident, those travelling will get insurance coverage. The state government will slowly phase out totos and replace them with e-rickshaws.