KOLKATA: More than a century after trams were electrified in Kolkata, making it one of only a handful cities across the world with an environment-friendly mode of transport, the first set of electric buses hit the roads on Wednesday. In the intervening years, suburban trains, Metro and the Circular Rail — all driven by electricity — had been introduced in a bid to make commuting green.Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday flagged off 20 electric buses and another 60 are set to join the fleet this year. These zero-emission buses will ply on three routes — Airport-Joka, Shyambazar-Nabanna, and Tollygunge-Bidhannagar. Environment advocacy group Centre for Science & Environment (CSE) executive director (research and advocacy) Anumita Roychowdhury said that with the introduction of electric vehicles, Kolkata has a bigger opportunity than most other cities to phase in zero-emission mobility quicker because of its inherent advantages of a very strong public transport culture and short average travel distances. “Kolkata is the most suitable for electric buses,” she said.Nearly 89% of daily trips in Kolkata are made on public transport. Electric buses will help improve the bus transport and increase passenger count. “We are optimistic about the electric buses. They will certainly reduce the emission burden on the transport sector. But it requires a huge investment and we hope the cost of buses will come down substantially so that we can replace all our diesel buses in phases,” said WBTC managing director Narayan Swarup Nigam.The electric buses, along with trams, Metro, Suburban Railway and Circular Railway, take the share of zero-emission pie in daily travel to 22%. The electrification of buses can have a major impact on the city’s emission pollution load as buses comprise 56% of the daily travel in the city. If autos and taxis are also electrified, it will account for another 17% of daily trips.The move towards electric vehicles acquires particular relevance in the wake of the very high pollution and exposure levels Kolkata has been experiencing in recent times, especially during winter. Vehicles are one of the major contributors to air pollution in the city. As Kolkata does not have easy access to other clean fuels, its dependence on toxic diesel is high, leading to serious public health consequences.

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