Karachi:
Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has become the first municipal body in Pakistan to launch a fleet of electrical bicycles marking a step towards environmentally friendly city management.
The initiative was inaugurated on Friday by Mayor Murtaza Wahab at the KMC head office, where 20 bikes were handed over to send riders in the first phase. Each bike that costs RS215,000 comes with a three-year warranty. A charging station has already been set up in the KMC headquarters and more to be created throughout the city.
Wahab said the project would not only reduce KMC’s expenses but also help tackle climate change and carbon emissions. “As a responsible city council, we have decided not to buy petrol bikes in the future. Pink bikes will soon also be delivered to female officers,” he announced.
The mayor remembered that KMC had previously moved its head office, parks and more major roads to solar energy, and similar measures were taken to hospitals and pumping stations. He also announced that Sharae Faisal, Shahrah-E-Iran and Shahrah-E-Ghalib are converted to solar energy, with the project planned for completion by September 30.
Other green initiatives include a solar park at Kidney Hill, the conversion of Malir’s pumping stations to solar energy and a plan to change five of KMCS 14 hospitals to renewable energy.
Wahab called on the federal government to introduce a rate for low-income groups so that citizens could also switch to electric vehicles.
