PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa has granted the State government permission to start the e-buses from July 1, as the government sought another extension considering the prevailing situation. The government has also assured the Bench that it will gradually phase out diesel buses, replacing them with e-buses.
During the hearing of a suo-motu PIL concerning the traffic plan in Panaji, Advocate General Devidas Pangam submitted to the Court seeking another extension up to July 1. The Court granted permission while adjourning the matter for next hearing on July 3.
The authorities have delayed implementing the colour-coded KTCL electric buses against their earlier three deadlines. This would be the fourth deadline to start the fleet of buses, which were purchased several months ago at a whopping cost to be operational on different routes within and outskirts of Panaji.
The bus service under the ‘Smart City Mission’ comprises new large electric buses (49 seaters), diesel-powered minibuses (30 seaters), electric minibuses (26 seaters), electric microbuses (14 seaters), and electric buggies (11 seaters).
Meanwhile, the Court will also hear the other compliance on the traffic management in Panaji on July 3, wherein traffic chaos particularly near the casinos up to Divja Circle will be addressed. The Court had also stated that precautions for crossing the road on this stretch and controlling the pick-and-drop will have to be monitored. Pangam said all these issues have been discussed with the SP Traffic and a report is expected to be submitted on July 3, the next hearing.
