Delhi CM flags off 150 electric buses, announces 3-day free ride
Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 May, 2022 12:32 PM
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday flagged off 150 electric buses from the Indraprastha Depot and also announced free travel in these buses for the next three days.
Kejriwal along with Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot also took a ride on board an electric bus from the Indraprastha Depot to Rajghat after flagging off the fleet.
"Today is a happy day, I am happy and hope the people of Delhi are also happy. Today 150 electric buses have hit the roads of Delhi. I also took a short ride in the bus. These are beautiful and luxurious buses," Kejriwal said.
"We have made the ride free for the next three days. Take a ride around the city and enjoy. The electric buses will also reduce pollution."
He also announced that 150 more buses will join the fleet after one month.
"The capital city needs total 11,000. Today we have achieved the 7,200 mark, which is the largest number of buses in the history of Delhi. We will also buy 600-700 CNG buses as production of electric buses is very less now. The target is to have 2,000 electric buses on the roads of Delhi in a year" the Chief Minister added.
On the appointment of Vinai Kumar Saxena as the new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Kejriwal said they will work together for the development of Delhi.
While the Centre's announcement to repeal three farm laws is seen as a political decision with eye on forthcoming assembly polls in five states, the BJP claims that it has nothing to do with elections as the party has won many states after laws were passed by the Parliament.
On January 12 this year, the Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of the three farm laws after scores of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh pitched their tents on various Delhi borders in protest against the three laws.
A nine-member committee of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the consortium of protesting farmers' bodies, will be meeting on Saturday, and it is likely to put forth four main demands. The meeting will also decide whether the SKM will go ahead with the originally announced 'March Towards Delhi' programme on November 26.
Congress legislator and Punjab unit party president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday said the minimum support price (MSP) is the bigger issue than farm laws as it is the lifeline of farmers.
Extending his greetings to the people on Prakash Purb of Guru Nanak Dev, the Chief Minister said it was really a matter of great honour to inaugurate this prestigious project which happens to coincide with Gurpurab.
Three employees of Air India, accused of having a role in the smuggling of gold, have been arrested, officials said on Friday. They have been accused of having a hand in a recent incident wherein 1.5 kg gold -- stored beneath an aircraft's seat -- was seized.
