NEW DELHI: The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority on Monday asked the DMRC and other agencies to prepare a framework explaining how e-autos will function in the national capital. The direction from the EPCA came after the Supreme Court, which had capped the number of auto-rickshaws at one lakh, asked the panel to examine the issue and submit a report.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had earlier filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, seeking approval for the registration of 15,000 e-auto rickshaws to provide last-mile connectivity from all 184 metro stations in the city. At a meeting on Monday, EPCA asked all agencies and institutions concerned, including the DMRC, to prepare a framework explaining how the batteries will be recharged, the dead ones will be disposed and what the e-autos fares will be.
“We do not want that the Metro travel becomes costly due to this. Auto-rickshaw charges Rs 25 for the first 1.5 km and Rs 9.5 per km, thereafter. Whether these rates will also apply to e-autos... and how to ensure that these battery-operated autos don’t transgress their areas,” EPCA chairman Bhure Lal said.
A DMRC official who attended the meeting said the e-autos will be operated through concessionaires and GPS-based monitoring will ensure that they ply only in the areas assigned. EPCA member Sunita Narain stressed the need for a centralised e-auto monitoring station against having one each for every concessionaire. The DMRC official said that in addition to e-auto recharging stations, a centralised monitoring room can be set up on the Delhi Metro premises.
With agency inputs