A&N Administration to Procure More than 70 Electric Cars for 34 Departments and 40 Electric Busses for Public Transport
Port Blair, June 24: Andaman and Nicobar Administration is committed to take forward the vision and direction of Government of India in moving towards electric vehicles from the existing fossil fuel vehicles as a measure to preserve the environment. On the one hand, Administration has already decided to engage electric cars for the Government purposes and on the other hand, very soon public transport will be witnessing the induction and plying of 40 electric buses in the UT. In this direction, in the first phase, it has been decided to operate more than 70 Electric cars for the use of 34 departments/divisions. All these electric cars have reached Port Blair and today Transport Department by taking a lead role completed all the formalities like registration, setting up of charging infrastructure, etc and made these E-cars ready for operation.
Smti. Nitika Pawar, Secretary (Transport) in the presence of Dr. Navlendra Kumar Singh, Director (Transport) flagged off a fleet of 05 electric cars allotted to Transport Department on 23.06.2020 in a simple function held in the Directorate of Transport.
It is pertinent to mention that secretariat establishment of A & N Administration have already started operating 20 Electric cars. Probably, the UT Administration is the first to take such proactive steps towards induction and promotion of Electric vehicles which has been appropriately appreciated by the Government of India for which best Green Initiative Award was also given by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. It is expected that steps being taken by the Government in the direction of inducting electric vehicles would motivate the common citizen and A & N Islands can become the first UT to use safe, clean & renewable energy towards maintaining the green cover of these pristine islands.
Transport Department has been constantly trying to improve upon the capacity of public delivery services and the welfare of its employees. In this direction, a small coffee house in the Directorate complex was also inaugurated by the Secretary (Transport) on 23.06.2020. This is a step towards ensuring better quality and hygienic beverages and other refreshments for the employees and it is anticipated that this will increase the productivity and improve the service delivery. This facility will also be available to the general public visiting this office and they can enjoy the tea and coffee prepared by the Nescafe wending machine at the Rs.10/- & Rs.12/- respectively. It is expected that all such efforts of the department will prove to be an important link in the series of such developmental efforts and help in ensuring a healthy atmosphere.