BEST fleet to have electric buses by 2028: Aaditya Thackeray

Environment Minister of Maharashtra Aaditya Thackeray told the media that the entire fleet of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) would be an electric one.

The entire fleet of the BEST will include electric buses by 2028.

Thackeray said that the double-decker buses operated by the BEST would run on either hydrogen fuel cells or electrical energy, whichever is more suited.

He was speaking as a chairperson in a function at the BMC headquarters where the civic organisation inked a Memorandum of Understanding for three initiatives namely- Cities for Forests Campaign, Women for Climate and e-Bus Mission, under the Mumbai Climate Change action plan.

Thackeray said that for creating a progressive and eco-friendly Mumbai metropolis, rapid straps are being taken, and the three MOUs inked are vital.

Additionally, Thackeray said that the BMC had already executed several steps for the conservation and protection of the environment. Wet-dry waste sorting and planting of 2.5 lakh saplings under Mazi Vasundhara Abhiman for urban forestry in the past one-and-a-half years is part of it.

For rainwater conservation, drainage ditches must be dug around housing societies, government office premises, and wherever possible.

He said that the trees must be planted in the form of fences around transport islands, flyovers, and grounds.

Climate change is increasing, and all nations are facing it. In such a state, all political parties must come together and strive together for sustainable growth.

Mumbai municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal told the media that the government aims to achieve 15% public transport based on electric vehicles by 2025, but going beyond that, the corporation targets to make 50% of public transport based on electric vehicles by 2023.

The general manager of BEST, Lokesh Chandra, told the media that around 55 places are chosen in the metropolis to charge electric vehicles. More charging stations will be installed there in the coming 3 to 4 months by a public-private partnership. It will also allow the general public to charge their vehicles.

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