The Delhi transport department will launch an electric shuttle bus service for central and government employees on Friday, although the National Capital Region is in stage 2 of the Graded Action Response Plan (Grap), which restricts the movement of some private cars.
Ashish Kundra, the transport secretary-turned-commissioner for Delhi, stated, “Special shuttle service trips with electric buses have been prepared to promote public transport and discourage private vehicles by government employees to curb pollution,”
Shuttle services between official residential areas and the headquarters of both services will start, according to officials, from Kidwai Nagar and RK Puram to the federal Secretariat for federal government personnel and from Gulabi Bagh to the Delhi secretariat for state government employees.
The service will begin at 8.30 a.m. and 9 a.m. for employees of the central government and at 5.30 p.m. and 6 p.m. for those employed by the state government. There will be six routes in total.
According to authorities, the single-journey pink pass and other valid transportation department permits are accepted for this service, which has a ₹25 fee. Additionally, a campaign to inspect commercial heavy trucks in the city has been launched by the transport department.
“We penalized a few vehicles daily but we are apprehending and challaning around 50 overloaded trucks daily now. These overloaded trucks have been a major cause of road dust in Delhi. So far, over 150 trucks have been apprehended,” according to a senior transport department official.
Furthermore, drivers without a valid pollution under control (PUC) certificate are also facing consequences. Since October 1, 6,000 persons, according to officials, have been penalized for having invalid PUCs. The agency also plans to SMS car owners whose PUC certifications have expired.
