JAMMU: Inching towards transforming City of Temples into a resilient and healthy place for people to live, the Jammu Municipal Corporation is all set to introduce e-rickshaws for collection of solid waste management under Smart City project.
The battery operated e-rickshaws will be used for door-to-door garbage collection in the temple city. For trial purpose, the e-rickshaw has been deployed in Gandhi Nagar area of the city.
Speaking to JK Global News, JMC Commissioner, Avny Lavassa said that the state government is encouraging use of e-vehicles for solid waste management. “The e-rickshaw project was taken up under the Smart City project to keep the JMC in sync with the state government’s initiatives” said Avny Lavassa.
Further giving details, she asserted that currently, the e-rickshaw is under trial run and in the initial stage 25 more such vehicles will be added in the fleet and deployed in plain terrain within JMC jurisdiction.
Introduction of the vehicles would not only ease the burden of the workers but also enable them reach inaccessible lanes of the temple city. Besides economical in handling, these vehicles will be of great help as they can go easily to even the narrow streets of Jammu city, she added.
Giving technical details about e-rickshaw, Chief transport Officer of JMC Harvinder Singh said “Retrofitted with the trademark blue and green waste bins of the JMC, the vehicle can carry a load of 60 kg and can be upgraded to 80kg. It requires 5 hours for full charge and can cover a distance of 80 km, with a maximum speed of 30 kmph.
Besides saving on fuel costs, these e-rickshaws are expected to improve air quality to some extent, now these e-rickshaws will also come in handy for the corporation for garbage management, he added.