The Hindu : New Delhi News : Solar rickshaws for Chandni Chowk

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 23, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

Solar rickshaws for Chandni Chowk

Staff Reporter

Rs. 15 crore would be sanctioned for road improvement: Sheila Dikshit

Road project includes street lighting, attractive elevations
To be executed within six months of approval

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday assured the Municipal Corporation of Delhi that the State Government would release Rs.15 crore for re-development of the road from Red Fort to Fatehpuri Masjid as per a plan prepared by the Union Minister of Science and Technology and Chandni Chowk MP Kapil Sibal.

Speaking following a presentation made by the Union Ministry on the project, Ms Dikshit said the Delhi Government would reimburse the sum of Rs.15 crore once the amount is utilised by the MCD to execute the action plan for re-development of the road, which would be given an attractive and aesthetic look. The project includes provisions for modern street furniture, street lighting, modern signages, attractive elevations, convenient footpaths, benches and common cable system and would be executed within six months of approval.

Mr. Sibal urged the Chief Minister to also inaugurate solar powered rickshaws in Chandni Chowk on October 2. He said these rickshaws would weigh about 210 kg each and would be able to run at a speed of 15 to 20 km per hour. The solar rickshaws would run on solar battery that is expected to last for 70 km on a single charge. The battery would take five hours to be charged with the help of solar panels that would be connected to the charging unit to be made functional above Delhi Metro stations.

The Minister said the rickshaws would also have to go to the charging station for replacement of existing battery with the charged one. To be called “green rickshaws”, these vehicles would ply within radius of three km from the Metro stations. The DMRC would be approached to make available their space above Metro stations to establish solar panels.

The solar powered rickshaws in Chandni Chowk would be operated as a pilot project. Each of these rickshaws would cost about Rs.17,000 and Ms. Dikshit expressed confidence that they would go a long way in eliminating man-pulled rickshaws.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi

News Update

Stories in this Section