Commuting in India can be a mind
boggling exercise in futility and frustration. Indians have the widest variety of
modes of travel and they include
·
Walking,
·
Horse
riding
·
Donkey
riding
·
Camel
riding
·
Elephant
riding
·
Buffalo
riding
·
Bicycles
·
Cycle
rickshaws
·
Rickshaws
drawn by human beings
·
Trams
·
Horse
drawn carriages (tongas)
·
Buffalo
drawn carriages
·
Donkey
drawn carriages
·
Auto
rickshaws
·
Buses
·
Shared
autos
·
Shared
Jeeps
·
Taxis
·
Public
transport
·
Two-wheeler
(scooters)
·
Two
wheeler (motorcycles)
·
Metro
train
·
Suburban
trains
·
Regular
trains
·
Air
Taxis
·
Aero
planes
·
Monorail
·
Boats
·
House
boats
·
And
a new one is added battery driven cars
I saw the battery car
in Delhi. The battery powered cars originally costing around 600 dollars (costing
around 36,000 rupees) in China retail around 95,000 rupees in India. These new additions
to the Delhi roads are quite a attraction. These cute looking new vehicles are sleek
and are very light and can carry 6 people very easily. These silent
vehicles are agile and are loved by the passengers. These battery cars operate
as stage carriers and are taking business away from the auto rickshaws of
Delhi.
Right now these battery
powered cars are being given to men belonging to the weaker section. These
vehicles are not registered and the drivers need no license to drive these battery
driven cars. No doubt these new additions to the roads of Delhi are welcome but
rules should not be relaxed or totally done away with. The new vehicles should
be registered and they should adhere to the rules to which the other vehicles
are subjected to.
Also this mode of transport
should be allowed to come to other part of the country. These can be used by
commuters who have to travel for a short distance of say about one kilometer. The
commuter could be charged Rs 10/- rupees for a ride. At that price it could be
a win-win for both the driver and for the commuters. The driver uses sealed
lead acid batteries and the battery car can be riven for 80 kilometers on a full
charge.
The battery cars can
be used for many other applications. As golf carts and they can be used in the airports, in the
university campuses and by post men.
They can replace cycle rickshaws. The energy of the cycle rickshaw driver can
be conserved and he could go home happy at the end of the day. The Kolkata government
could gift these to the poor human driven rickshaws pullers. A human pulling other humans is a practice still
prevalent in the streets of Kolkata. These can provide a module of decorum and dignity
to these human rickshaw puller of Kolkata.
These battery driven
cars could also be very liked by the tourists. These are absolutely safe and travel
very slowly. Tourist who want to take as much of the city as possible could
find these a boon. But care should be taken that the tourists are not fleeced. Prominently
displayed rate cards can be a solution. If these precautions are not taken these
could become the next tuck tucks. Very prominent land marks of Bangkok but feared
as they are known to fleeced the commuters Ala the auto rickshaw drivers of
Chennai.
