e-vehicles to collect garbage from households in Visakhapatnam soon

Battery-operated auto-rickshaws will collect garbage from households in the city soon as the Andhra Pradesh government will provide 65 e-autorickshaws to the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC). As a part of the Clean Andhra Pradesh (CLAP) initiative, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy flagged off 516 e-autorickshaw from his camp office at Tadepalli on June 8 (Thursday).

Battery-operated auto-rickshaws will collect garbage from households in the city soon as the Andhra Pradesh government will provide 65 e-autorickshaws to the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC).

As a part of the Clean Andhra Pradesh (CLAP) initiative, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy flagged off 516 e-autorickshaw from his camp office at Tadepalli on June 8 (Thursday).

A senior official of the GVMC said that the vehicles, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), would be used for door-to-door garbage collection in the city.

“The GVMC has been sending proposals seeking e-vehicles for the collection of garbage for years. Finally, we are getting the vehicles. The government is providing battery-operated vehicles as a part of the move to reduce consumption of fossil fuel,” said an official of the GVMC.

He said that the use of e-vehicles would reduce the expenditure by 70% when compared to that of diesel-run vehicles used for the collection of garbage. Meanwhile, the GVMC has already set up some charging points for the e-vehicles at its head office, while the APEPDCL has also set up a few points. Plans are afoot to set up more charging points for e-vehicles, he said.

“The e-vehicles are compact. They can pass through small bylanes and function easily in the hilly areas of the city. These vehicles not only help reduce emissions but also are cost-effective. These heavy-duty vehicles require less maintenance,” explained a senior official of GVMC.