In order to mitigate pollution in Almora, the district administration is planning to introduce electric rickshaws on the Mall Road here from the first week of September. After successful trial, the electric rickshaws will be operated from Shikhar trijunction to Raghunath city mall.
In the initial stage only four electric rickshaws will be operated for a period of two months. After this time period, the number of electric rickshaws operating here may be increased. It is pertinent to mention here that air pollution has become an issue even in the green and clean mountainous regions-especially in the urban areas.
In order to provide a better and non-polluting alternative to the three-wheelers operating as public transport vehicles, the district administration has agreed to facilitate the operation of electric rickshaws in Almora.
Chairing a meeting with officials concerned, the district magistrate Nitin Singh Bhadauriya directed the Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) to complete all the necessary official formalities related to facilitating the operation of electric rickshaws.
In addition to the electric rickshaws, the district magistrate has also directed the ARTO to check possibilities for operating city buses on new routes.
The ARTO Alok Joshi said that after some changes in routes, timings and other aspects of the city bus service, the proposal has been sent to the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) office in Haldwani.