With electric buses, West Bengal makes an ambitious push for curbing city pollution

The government also plans to increase the number of charging stations in and around the city. If things go as per plan, the transport department would convert its entire bus fleet to electric models in a few years from now.

Electric buses have been introduced in Kolkata. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

Aiming to bring down the air pollution caused by buses operated in the city, the West Bengal government has introduced around 80 electric buses; in the next 10 years, it plans to introduce more than five thousand such buses. As a result, the state government has already bagged the C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Award in the “Green Mobility” category.

“In the next few months, nearly 150 electric buses will be in use. While 80 buses are being used in and around Kolkata, the remaining 70 buses will be distributed in Haldia, Asansol and Siliguri,” a senior transport official told The Indian Express.

The government also plans to increase the number of charging stations in and around the city. If things go as per plan, the transport department would convert its entire bus fleet to electric models in a few years from now.

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“Electric buses have many advantages. Their running costs are 60 per cent lower than the diesel buses,” said Narayan Swarup Nigam, Transport Secretary, Government of West Bengal. Moreover, according to an official of the state pollution control board, “an analysis of different sources of air pollution in Kolkata has revealed that motor vehicles are the leading contributor to air pollution nearly 51.4 per cent, which is followed by industry at 24.5 per cent and dust particles at 21.1 per cent”. Transport department officials claim that switching to cleaner fuel would reduce emission burden of the city drastically.

As per officials, the state’s transport department is purchasing these buses with the help of the central government. Officials said the central government would shoulder half the expense. The state has already disbursed Rs 60 crore for electric buses and these buses are already plying in areas like New Town, Kamalgazi, Airport, Belghoria, Joka etc.

There have been other steps to control emissions from automobile exhausts. The state has Auto Emission Testing Centres (AETCs). The AETCs have upgraded their testing facilities with opacity meter (for smoke density testing of diesel-driven vehicles), gas analysers (for testing of exhaust emission of petrol-driven vehicles), web camera and compatible software.

Sweety Kumari

Sweety Kumari reports from West Bengal for The Indian Express. She is a journalist with over a decade of experience in the media industry. Covers Crime, Defence, Health , Politics etc and writes on trending topics. With a keen eye for investigative and human-interest stories. She has honed her craft across diverse beats including aviation, health, incidents etc. Sweety delivers impactful journalism that informs and engages audiences. Sweety Kumari is a graduate of Calcutta University with an Honors degree in Journalism from Jaipuria College and a PG in Mass Communication from Jadavpur University. Originally from Bihar, she is brought up in Kolkata and completed her education from Kendriya Vidyalaya SaltLake. Multilingual, Sweety is fluent in English, Hindi, Bengali, and Maithili. She started her career as an Entertainment and lifestyle journalist with a newsportal in Kolkata. She is working with The Indian Express for 8 years now. ... Read More

Atri Mitra

Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More

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