E- Rickshaws in Jammu

Jammu and Kashmir is marching ahead in terms of development. After witnessing years of turmoil and conflict the people in this region have been trying their best to overcome grief and loss that affected their lives. Terrorism had a tremendous impact on the economy and livelihood issues of the people. But with the urban development and the government initiatives to upgrade the infrastructure and superstructure there has been expansion of the road network that has been in sync with the increase in the volume of traffic at all levels. Urbanisation too has played a role. Besides the need of the times is that there is public friendly transport at the disposal of the commuters. This increased need for public transport on the roads has posed multiple challenges in terms of pollution issues that pose a serious risk to the health of the people belonging to all age groups. The Jammu and Kashmir Government has recognised this challenge and has given momentum to the smart cities in both Jammu and Kashmir respectively so that a focussed plan is put in place to address multiple challenges that affect the ambience of the both cities in the UT. Traffic management and the need for public friendly transport has always been an issue. The Jammu Smart City Project has enabled the management and operationalization of the public transport that is both user friendly and environment friendly too. The roads in the Jammu city these days are witnessing the movement of e –rickshaws ,e-autos and e- buses that are hundred percent dependent on the electric charge and thus creating a new hope for controlling the pollution.Jammu has been witnessing the exponential increase of traffic and vehicles on the roads leading to traffic jams at the main stops of Jammu. Though the construction of roads and flyovers at many points in Jammu is undergoing construction after the implementation of the road widening plan. The road from Satwari to Kathua is totally being overhauled, posing a lot of trouble to the commuters on this road. But the presence of the e- rickshaws, e – autos and e-buses give a sigh of relief. Jammu city’s e-autos and e-rickshaws have won the Award of Excellence in Urban Transport at the 17th Urban Mobility India Conference and Expo held in Gujarat. This award recognises the project in the City with Most Innovative Financing Mechanism category. This award was received by the CEO of Jammu Smart City, Devesh Yadav along with the team of Jammu Smart City Limited (JSCL) from the Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs M.L. Khattar. This is indeed an achievement that the entire Jammu and Kashmir can feel proud about. One thing needs to be underlined that there is always a scope for value addition and innovation when some new vehicle with totally unique features is made to ply on the road. The e autos and e buses that ply on the Jammu roads are perfectly safe and bear the passenger load as per the given specifications. But there is a problem with the e-rickshaws as these vehicles are not suitable to carry the passengers safely. The reason being that the dimensions of the e-rickshaw are not safe. Person who has travelled in this e-rickshaw can easily tell the state of comfort. Many of these e-rickshaws are turned upside down when carrying the passengers on the road. Just a glimpse of this e-rickshaw makes it clear that this vehicle is a risky one. Neither it has speed nor safety. Its width and height is too small to negotiate the centrifugal force that a vehicle needs while plying on the road while making a turn. Neither is it designed to negotiate the curves and fails while banking the curves. Jammu Smart City Limited needs to look into this matter and introduce value addition in the e-rickshaws so that people who commute in them are given safe and clean transport.