Staff Reporter
VIJAYAWADA: The city finally got buses that run on the eco-friendly compressed natural gas (CNG), as zonal chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation’s (APSRTC) Jogi Ramesh on Friday inaugurated the fleet at the city bus terminal. The buses would operate on 5SG, 31 and 11 routes in the city.
First of their kind in south India, the buses were formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy at Hyderabad on July 16.
Speaking to mediapersons who were taken around the city in the new buses, Mr. Ramesh said by the end of this year, the Government planned to dispatch in phases a fleet of 95 CNG buses to the city. The Congress Government was working on several other welfare plans for the APSRTC as part of its efforts to help the public sector organisation extend improved services to its commuters, he said. Deputy Transport Commissioner T. Raghunath said buses operated with eco-friendly natural gas would help curb noise and air pollution. Introduction of CNG buses was a revolution in the transport sector and people must take advantage of it.
Eco-friendly
Citing the example of cosmopolitan cities like Delhi, which, he said, were known for pollution menace, Mr. Raghunath pointed out that operation of CNG buses had helped the authorities in the national capital to curb pollution effectively.
APSRTC Regional Manager M. Seetapathi said each CNG bus had cost nearly Rs. 16 lakhs to the corporation. Ashok Leyland had manufactured the chassis of the new buses, while the remaining structure was given shape in the APSRTC body building workshop at Hyderabad. As part of its platinum jubilee celebrations, the APSRTC would take out a caravan by schoolchildren on August 2, he said.
Deputy Chief Traffic Manager, Vijayawada, A. Sudhakar and other officials were present.
Published - July 28, 2007 12:00 am IST
