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Shah to virtually launch 100 e-buses for Jammu today
Jammu municipal corporation commissioner Rahul Yadav said that Shah would launch the e-buses under the Smart City Project on Thursday
Union home minister Amit Shah will virtually launch 100 electric-buses for Jammu on Thursday as part of carbon neutrality endeavours of the administration in the eco-fragile Himalayan region.
Jammu municipal corporation commissioner Rahul Yadav, who also serves as the chief executive officer of Jammu Smart City Project Limited said that Shah would launch the e-buses under the Smart City Project on Thursday.
“Out of 100 buses, 75 will run within Jammu city limits and 25 buses will ply on long routes,” he added.
Yadav said that the administration had signed a contract of ₹500 crores with automobile company Tata to run these buses for 12 years.
The 75 buses, that would be run in the city, are of nine metre in length and the buses that would ply on longer routes are 12 metre in length.
The smaller e-buses will be introduced on Bari-Brahmana-Ban Talab- Janipur-Chatha-Kunjwani-Sidhra routes to provide connectivity to the people of the city, officials said.
The bigger buses would connect Jammu to Udhampur, Kathua and Katra, among other destinations.
A senior official said, “These buses would have been launched by the home minister by now. The delay has occurred due to due to inclement weather and recent terror attacks in Rajouri and Poonch.”
The electric buses would play a crucial role in reducing carbon emissions and promoting a cleaner environment, officials said.
The official added that successful trials of the e-buses were held in August last year.
“The e-buses will significantly enhance the reliability, comfort and affordability of public transport. The buses also have advanced safety features, such as panic buttons, location tracking systems and closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras”, he said.
To streamline the ticketing process, the official said, “Mobility cards and digital payment systems would be introduced to replace paper tickets.”
A fully-equipped bus stand cum charging station has been established in the Bhagwati Nagar area for the efficient operation of these e-buses, he added.
