The administration is duty-bound to provide quality transport facilities to the public. In December last year, the Lieutenant governor said that “unprecedented augmentation” of the public transport system will boost revenue generation as more and more viable and lucrative routes will be included in the operational network of transportation.
He also took a ride in Olectra Greentech’s electric bus having seating capacity of 24 plus driver, and single charge range of 160 KM with 80% status of charge.
The bus has many other modern features like GPS, Public Announcement System, Air Conditioner, Smart Ticketing, 2 USB ports per seat, Emergency Stop etc.
Depending upon the trial outcome, the government had said that it will decide future course of action for inter-city and intra-city transport facilities and 150-200 e-Buses would be introduced in the transport sector “soon” in a phased manner.
Electric buses in India have mixed feedback on the technology. While some consider the e-bus rollout fruitful, others have faced challenges in smoothly operating them due to their limited driving range. Some experts say that the actual on-road performance of electric buses is substantially lower than the assured ranges indicated by electric buses. However, some governments have found that electric buses deployment was more successful on low-frequency and less congested routes.
There are mainly four reasons to switch to electric buses –reduced pollutant emissions; lowered fiscal deficits due to oil; limited operating costs, and; decreased greenhouse effect. These are typical in Jammu and Kashmir but the switch to e-buses must be well calibrated. The government needs to carefully weigh up all options. There is no doubt that there is a need for augmenting the public transport but it must be more reliable. e-buses seems future but all technical aspects need to be practically put to test before they are introduced on a large scale.
The introduction of electric buses in the fleet is a step toward ensuring a clean environment and securing a sustainable energy future. Efforts to reduce the pollution are welcome and must be encouraged. However, dependability factors must be factored in as it will define the long run of the transport system in weather and road dependent J&K. The administration must continue with the endeavor and continue to work to realize the same with reasonable dispatch.
