AGARTALA, Oct 6 (IANS) - After 22 years, the Tripura government will bring back town bus services in capital Agartala by introducing 75 buses that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) to make it a "green city", an official said here Wednesday.
The Tripura government has recently constituted the Tripura Urban Transport Company (TUTC) to run the public buses, provided by the central government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The new fleet of buses would start plying from Friday.
"Over 60 percent of autorickshaws, a large number of small cars and buses are now using CNG in Agartala, the fourth city in India after New Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow running CNG vehicles on a large scale," state Transport Minister Manik Dey said.
"With the gradual conversion of all public, private and government vehicles into CNG mode, the Tripura government wants to make the capital city Agartala India�s first green city,� Dey told reporters adding that several other measures are on the cards to achieve the purpose.
The town bus services in Agartala had been withdrawn in 1988, inconveniencing commuters of the city that has a population of half a million.
�The introduction of 75 passenger buses, some of them air-conditioned, would be a special bonanza for the city dwellers and puja revellers before the ensuing Durga Puja festival,� Dey added.
�The Supreme Court had forced the authority to make the national capital (New Delhi) a pollution free city by introducing CNG-run vehicles, but in Tripura we are on our own initiative doing this significant task,� the minister said.
