Kolkata: The number of registered green fuel vehicles in the state touched 2.6 lakh in Feb. This was disclosed by principal chief advisoe to the CM Amit Mitra. He was speaking at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry summit on sustainability.Elaborating on the figures, Mitra said that the number of 2-wheelers was 75,965, three-wheelers was 1.6 lakh, and motor cars was 17,822, while that of goods carriages was 4,083 (three-wheelers). He pointed out that Bengal was emerging as a model for green development through a mix of circular economy initiatives, renewable energy expansion, and water conservation programmes. He also highlighted several initiatives of Bengal govt towards green development.
One of the initiatives is the excavation of around 800 km of creeks designed to trap rainwater and create a “sweet water” ecosystem that supports shrimp cultivation. “We planted mangroves along these 800 kilometres of creeks. The leaves fall into the sweet water and that becomes feed for galda chingri,” Mitra said. He pointed out that the circular economy initiatives helped women self-help groups engaged in shrimp farming. According to him, the initiative resulted in $ 500 million export of shrimp.Mitra added that solar power projects with a combined capacity of 3,763 MW are nearing completion, including a project supported by Germany’s KfW Bank. He also highlighted land and water conservation initiatives such as ‘Matir Srishti’ and ‘Jal Dharo Jal Bharo’.Mitra said forest cover in the state had increased by 2,688 sq km, while around 15 crore mangroves were planted along the coastline.
