THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The increase in vehicle density which has resulted in rising air pollution has become a matter of concern. With the aim of making public transport more environment-friendly, the city corporation is all set to launch e-autos which will start plying on city roads from next month. The e-autos are being implemented under the 'Low Carbon Ananthapuri' initiative of the Smart City project of the corporation.
In the first phase of the project, 50 e-autos will be launched and the project will take off from Thampanoor on a trial basis. The city corporation will implement e-autos in 10 spots identified in the city. J2 crore has been set apart for introducing the e-autos under the Smart City project. "We considered introducing e-autos which is inexpensive and environment-friendly to reduce pollution," said Mayor V K Prasanth. The long-term aim of the project is to convert all autorickshaws in the city into electric autos, he said.
The corporation plans to introduce e-autos in several phases. Women from Kudumbashree units will be employed as auto drivers. Adequate number of battery charging points will also be set up in different parts of the city to charge the e-autos. As e-autos run on electrically-charged batteries, more charging points are required for the purpose.
Besides being environment-friendly, the corporation authorities said the steady rise in the fuel costs will not affect the autorickshaw drivers if they convert to e-autos."There are many complaints regarding the increase in auto fares and autorickshaw drivers not following the meter. The fare of the e-autos is expected to be much lower when compared to autorickshaws that run on petrol," said a corporation official. Upon the success of the project in the first phase, the city corporation will accordingly introduce more electric autos in the city.
Phase I
In the first phase of the project, 50 e-autos will be launched and the project will take off from Thampanoor on a trial basis. The city corporation will implement e-autos in 10 spots.