Electric Buses To Finally Hit The Roads Of Rohtang

Tag : Rohtang Pass, Manali, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh

People in Rohtang can now travel in electric buses as, on Friday, Himachal Pradesh became the first state in the country to run an electric bus at an altitude of 13,050 feet.  The state transport department has been successful at the trial of the electric bus. This will encourage the eco-friendly transport among the public. But as the hilly road is not suitable for such buses, the ground clearance is still a challenge. With the coming trials by two to three companies, the department wants to enhance ground clearance for smooth run of buses between Manali and Rohtang by next summer.

To achieve this step, it took a lot of efforts to overcome the obstacles. Many problems like the bursting of tyres were faced earlier. As stated by G S Bali, Minister of Himachal Pradesh, the technical trial of the electric bus was conducted from Manali to Rohtang Pass with 40 people on board. All parameters except ground clearance were successfully achieved. For a distance of 50 km, the bus consumed only 28% to 30% battery, he stated.  "There is no doubt that electric buses would run smoothly with no carbon emission," he further added.

Companies giving trial runs have been asked to increase the ground clearance in view of hilly roads. Heavy emission of carbon from petrol and diesel vehicles during peak tourist season would turn the snow black and also lead to fast melting of glaciers. Thus Electric buses are being introduced on the ecologically fragile Manali-Rohtang pass route on the directions of the National Green Tribunal.

As an introduction of CNG stations for the CNG buses would take time, the state decided to run electric buses till then. There is a proposal to run 25 electric buses currently, and soon by time, the number of buses will increase.

In consultation with the Himachal Pradesh government, the National Green Tribunal directed the Union ministry of heavy industries to finalize the design and specifications of the tender for electric buses. This occurred in April during the hearing of Rohtang Pass pollution case. ‘Expenditure of buses shall be borne in the ratio of 25% and 75% by the state and Central government,’ said chairperson, Justice Swatanter Kumar.

Source: Times of India.

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