News: MCG to replace diesel autos with e-rickshaws from I-Day-27-07-2021
Gurgaon: The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) is planning to roll out the plan to replace diesel autos with e-rickshaws on Independence Day. The civic body will first start the project by giving subsidies to diesel auto owners in Palam Vihar, where the number of these autos is more than any other area of the city.
MCG had recently announced that it will soon start working on creating an electric vehicle zone in the city. Diesel autos won’t be allowed to ply in the e-vehicle zone. According to the regional transport authority (RTA), there are approximately 20,000 diesel autos in Gurgaon.
“We are going to start the project of replacing diesel autos with e-rickshaws from Palam Vihar and are planning to give subsidies on August 15. Palam Vihar has a good number of diesel autos, so we thought of starting in that area,” said Jitender Garg, MCG joint commissioner -2.
Auto owners, however, are not convinced with the scheme of replacing diesel autos with e-rickshaws. Some of them said e-rickshaws are not durable in the long run, while others pointed out that it is not a viable replacement for shared diesel autos that can accommodate more people.
“There are problems associated with the scheme. One of them is that we are uncertain about the durability of the e-rickshaws they will provide us. Before commissioning the work to a firm, the authorities should first study the quality of e-rickshaws they will give us. We take loans to buy a rickshaw and if it is not long-lasting, it will be a loss even if the authorities give a subsidy,” said Yogesh Sharma, general secretary of the Haryana auto association.
Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced that diesel autos more than five years old will be replaced by e-rickshaws in Gurgaon in a grievance committee meeting held in December 2019. The committee had taken the decision when the issue of pollution caused by old autos was raised in the meeting.
“We had a meeting recently with MCG in which we had clearly communicated that it is not feasible for diesel auto owners to exchange their vehicles for e-rickshaws. It is because the e-rickshaws are not durable. Moreover, 60% of the diesel autos in Gurgaon have already been replaced with CNG autos,” said Tek Chand from the Gurgaon auto association, adding that the authorities should take auto drivers into confidence before making a decision.
