PRAYAGRAJ: In view of making Maha Kumbh environment friendly the Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) has decided to ply electric buses . Each electric bus will have 51 seats and will be equipped with Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTD) and panic buttons for passengers. These buses will be  connected to the integrated command control centre of the Corporation.

The fare of AC electric buses is at par with the rest of the AC buses run by UPSRTC, while that of the non-AC electric buses will be comparable to the ordinary buses.

The Uttar Pradesh government will ply electric buses in 2025 in the Maha Kumbh township in Prayagraj to make the event environment friendly.

The state government has decided to add at least 500 electric buses. The buses will either be purchased by the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) or hired on contract from private firms.

UPSRTC will float a tender within three months to buy 100 electric buses. Each of these electric buses will cost around Rs 1.5 crore and will need a recharge every 250 kms. The firms from which these buses will be purchased will also provide chargers of land to be provided by the roadways department.

It will have to impart training to UPSRTC drivers for operating the buses and their annual maintenance. In addition to buying 100 electric buses in the first phase, the department  will also hire another 250 electric buses on contract, the tender for which will be floated soon.

Buses hired will be operated by drivers and conductors of the private agency with which the corporation will enter into contract.

The UPSRTC board has decided to operate electric buses between religious and historical cities as well as those cities which are important from the point of view of culture and tourism.

According to sources The buses  will also be plied as inter-city buses. The state government had allocated over Rs 600 crore for the purchase of buses in the supplementary budget of the last financial year and the budget for 2023-24.