Electric buses will hit city streets soon: minister

It's just a matter of time before electric buses start plying on the city's streets as the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is in the process of inducting the environment-friendly vehicles into its fleet,  Transport Minister H M Revanna said on Tuesday.

The BMTC has completed the tendering for leasing 150 buses. Since the corporation  is not buying the vehicles, the services will be run and maintained by a private operator, he told reporters. This apart, the state government has decided to  lease  more electric buses for inter-city services on Bengaluru-Mysuru, Bengaluru-Kolar and Bengaluru-Tumakuru routes, he added.  

Revanna said electric buses would not be used for long-distance travel as they could run only up to 200 km once charged.

Statues in Soudha

Two more statues will be installed around the Vidhana Soudha.  While a 12-foot-tall bronze statue of Kanakadasa (on a 10-foot platform) will be installed in front of the Legislators' Home at a cost of Rs 2 crore by the second week of February, the place to instal the statue of Karnataka's first chief minister K C Reddy would be finalised soon, Revanna said.