Odisha to encourage e-rickshaws in urban areas

Bhubaneswar:  In a bid to keep the towns and cities free from air and sound pollution, the Odisha government today decided to encourage plying of e-rickshaws in areas under different Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

The decision in this regard was taken at meeting chaired by chief secretary A P Padhi.

"To encourage and promote pollution free e-rickshaw in the cities, the government will give tax waiver incentives.

The department has also been asked to take appropriate steps for moving out of the old and more polluting public vehicles from the city routes in phased manner," Padhi told reporters.

Stating that the ongoing city bus services in various ULBs will be augmented and made more effective in coming years, Padhi said it has also been decided to link the city with its nearest industrial and growth centers through this service.

Padhi directed Housing and Urban development department to fix the intra-city routes and number of buses to ply on those routes depending on the requirement of the people. It was also decided to allow the auto rickshaws within the city up to the carrying capacity of the routes.

HUD secretary Mathivathanan said at present 7 SPVs (special purpose vehicle) are operating in various ULBs for running & management of the city bus services. A total of 329 buses are running in 67 routes of different ULBs with around 88,500 passengers per day, he said.