Venkaiah Naidu says should switch over to e-vehicles for curbing pollution

Vice-president Vekaiah Naidu on Thursday said there was an urgent a need to switch to electric vehicles to address the problem of traffic congestion and air pollution in cities.

Naidu, who delivered the keynote address at the two-day long Connect Karo event organised by WRI India, said, “Congestion is adversely impacting the economic efficiency of our cities. The government is investing in public welfare system like Metro but there is a need for a comprehensive mobility plan as standalone Metro systems are not effective and need holistic planning.”

The two-day long conference is aimed at facilitating discussion on sustainable urban development with environmentally clean transportation and climate change.

A comprehensive mobility plan, Naidu said, is needed to meet the needs of cities for the next 20-40 years and India should follow the global trend of switching to electric vehicles and bicycles. Naidu, who is a former urban development minister, said that the switch from private to public transport is essential to check congestion and air pollution in cities.

The Vice President also inaugurated two online platforms – Electric Mobility Forum and the Climate Explorer —developed by WRI India at the event. The Electric Mobility Forum aims at bring together various stakeholders to help electrify and decarbonise transportation. The India Climate Explorer is a one-stop open-access data visualisation portal to monitor progress in meeting the climate goals.

He said that the best way to address climate change, which has become a big challenge, is to be friendly with the nature and live in harmony with it. The pace at which urbanisation is taking pace, Naidu said, there was a need to invest in our cities.

“As we brace ourselves to cope with this challenge of climate change, we will have to marshal all our intelligence, knowledge, science and understanding of nature to do that,” he said.

OP Agarwal, CEO, WRI India, said, “India is urbanising at a rapid pace. If this growth is harnessed appropriately, we could build a clean, sustainable, equitable and technologically advanced urban environment that supports livelihoods and enhances well-being of people.”

Air quality has been a matter of concern and every winter several parts of the country face ambient air quality that is ‘extremely poor’. While the Central government has started several welfare schemes, Naidu said that these schemes can’t be successfully implemented till the we change mindset of people.