Chandigarh, December 7 – In a bid to make Gurugram pollution free, the old diesel auto running in city will go off the roads in a phased manner. This was decided in a high level meeting chaired by Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal held at Gurugram today.

In the meeting, discussions were also held to explore the possibilities of e-rickshaws and CNG-powered autos replacing the old diesel auto rickshaws.

The Chief Minister said that Gurugram is the Icon City of the State and to make it equivalent to international cities, measures are being taken to reduce vehicle pollution here. He said that in this series, it is necessary to remove the old auto rickshaws from the roads, but while doing so, measures will also have to be taken regarding the employment of those auto drivers. He said that auto rickshaw is a means of livelihood for poor people; therefore their interest should also be taken care of.

He said that all the Auto rickshaw divers, who are running old Autos, can be helped to get e-rickshaws or CNG autos, while some possibilities for this were also discussed in the meeting.

Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr. V Umashankar who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority, gave suggestions regarding the option of diesel autos.

Mr. Umashankar said that it would also be considered to link the auto rickshaw with the city bus service. Initially it will be started as a trial on a route. On this occasion Additional Deputy Commissioner and regional transport authority secretary Mr. Mohammad Imran Raza shared the complete details of the number of diesel autos running in the district and the registered auto rickshaw. He informed that more than 11 thousand diesel auto rickshaws are running in Gurugram city.