BHUBANESWAR: It was left to voluntary organization Barefoot to emerge the lone saving grace for the state by winning an award at the National Tourism Awards ceremony in New Delhi on Monday in the category of best responsible tourism initiative for implementing Green Rider Rickshaw project in Puri.

While the state government drew a blank at the meet as two of its nominations did not impress the jury, Barefoot volunteers were ecstatic at winning the award. "It is an honour to receive the prestigious award from the President of India. Our community-based initiative and hard work won us the award," said Barefoot founder Yugabrat Kar.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government has planned Mass Transit System for Peshawar under technical assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB) to provide quality transport service to people of the city.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has taken the first step towards commencing the process of registration and licensing of cycle-rickshaws by framing draft guidelines in compliance with the directions of the Delhi High Court. On Tuesday, the matter was laid before the NDMC Standing Committee, but members postponed it till the next meeting stating it required detailed discussions.

A letter from the Municipal Commissioner on Tuesday stated that the application forms for registration of cycle rickshaw and licensing of pullers have been finalised. “There shall be a registration fee of Rs.500 (valid for five years) and parking fee of Rs.500 (one time) whereas the licensing fee to be charged for grant of puller/plier licence shall be Rs.150 (valid for three years) which has also been indicated on the top of the application forms…” states the letter.

Mehsana Resident Comes Up With Solar Rickshaw

Palanpur: As his small toy-like solarpowered tricycle passes through the streets and bazaars of Mehsana with his three children seated snugly behind him under a canopy, loud cheers are heard from passersby. Everyone seems to love the novel contraption moving smoothly on the roads. “Even the traffic policemen wave at us and at times give us money,” said Shamsuddin Ansari, the owner of this new solar rickshaw. He is a native of Amhera village in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh now settled in Mehsana.

With immediate effect; ban will be lifted after formulating policy for e-rickshaws.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday underlined the need for formulating a feasible regulatory framework for e-rickshaws, given their rapidly increasing numbers in the city.

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The civic administration will now conduct a feasibility study of all multi-level parking proposals to ensure that there is no burden on the existing infrastructure in the vicinity. “When parking lots are built in congested areas, they can turn detrimental for the nearby areas in terms of vehicular congestion, pollution, environment hazards, among other issues,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner Aseem Gupta.

The BMC has empanelled a group of two companies to conduct a simulation study including examining, analysing and assessing the multi-level parking proposals for more than 500 vehicles each. “This will especially help in case of huge multi-level parking lots in malls. We will ensure that the waiting time for a vehicle to get parking space should not be more than 10-15 minutes, otherwise it will create huge traffic congestion,” said Gupta.

JAIPUR: The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) citizen's survey findings have offered the authorities real-time data to take some urgent steps to check rising pollution levels and encourage walking and cycling as feasible options for residents to travel small distances.

The report stated that 40% residents prefer to walk or cycle to nearby destinations in the city. This is an indication enough for the state to realize that given an option of walker-friendly roads, many would prefer to walk over using private cars to travel.