NOIDA: The Noida Authority will now not approve any building plan unless there is provision for setting up charging stations for electric vehicles. The authority has amended its Building Manual, 2010, under which charging stations should occupy at least 20% of the parking area.
The move, officials feel, will persuade people to invest in electric vehicles in the city. As of now, Noida has only 99 four-wheelers and 1,600 bikes that run on electricity.
Ishtyaque Ahmad, general manager at the authority, confirmed that the building manual had been amended on May 13 this year. “We had sent the file to the state government and it gave its go ahead. From now, a building layout will be approved only if the developer has made arrangements for setting up electric vehicle charging infrastructure at the project,” he added.
Ahmad said the new rule would be applicable to all types of infrastructure projects — residential, commercial or industrial. This is the 8th time, according to him, that the Noida building manual was approved.
While approving the Noida Authority plan, the government agreed that the increasing use of motor vehicles had led to a greenhouse effect, Ahmad said. It also referred to an observation by the intergovernmental panel on climate change that consequences could be far reaching if increasing temperatures weren’t checked now.
Rajiva Singh, president of the Noida Federation of Apartment Owners’ Association (NOFAA), backed the authority’s move. “By 2030, India is targeting to reduce carbon emissions by 33%-35% as part of its commitment under the Paris climate agreement. It’s time now that the government and people take necessary steps to meet the target. We feel there should be e-vehicle charging stations also along the highways and expressways,” he said.
According to the transport department, Gautam Budh Nagar has 7,88,518 registered vehicles in the district, of which 9,683 are electric vehicles. This translates to just 1.2% of the total. Of these EVs, only 99 are four-wheelers, 511 e-carts, 1,604 two-wheelers, 7,436 e-rickshaws, 1 bus, 12 cabs and 20 other vehicles.
Siyaram Verma, the assistant RTO (administration), said the transport department would embark on an awareness drive to promote electric vehicle use.
So far, the Noida Authority has installed 69 electric vehicle charging stations at 54 locations in the city. It plans to install 93 more in the future.
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