Karnal: Charging stations along National Highway-44 non-functional, electric vehicle owners suffer

Parveen Arora

Karnal, November 22

Almost all electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) set up at seven state government-run tourist resorts along the National Highway-44 have been non-functional for the past several days.

As per an official of the Haryana Tourism Corporation, these non-functional stations require service and maintenance, but the “high” rates quoted by an agency have delayed the process.

Exploring options

The rates quoted by the agency for the service are very high. We are now exploring other options to make these stations functional at the earliest. Neeraj Kumar, Haryana Tourism Corpn MD

Make all stations functional

Finding an operational charging station has become difficult. All such stations should be made functional at the earliest. Chirag, EV owner

To promote the use of electric vehicles and reduce pollution, the Centre set up solar-powered EVCSs at tourist resorts run by the Haryana Tourism Corporation. Two these resorts are situated in Karnal and one each at Ambala, Pipli, Panipat, Samalkha and Rai.

The EVCSs in Karnal were dedicated by former Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Arvind Sawant on August 30, 2019.

The station at Oasis tourist resort here has five points with facility to charge 10 vehicles simultaneously, while three points at Karna Lake have facility to charge seven vehicles. None of these is, however, functional, causing inconvenience to people.

“A large number of people are opting for e-vehicles, but the government-run charging stations are out of order. The number of charging stations is limited and many of these are not functional.

The government must ensure their smooth functioning to encourage more people to opt for e-vehicles,” said Vinny, a local resident. Another resident Chirag said EV owners continued to face problem due to non-operational charging stations. “Finding an operational charging station has become difficult. All such stations should be made functional at the earliest,” he added.

The authorities claimed that they were exploring other options to make EVCSs functional.

“The rates quoted by the agency for the service are very high. We are now exploring other options in order to make these stations functional at the earliest,” said Neeraj Kumar, MD of Haryana Tourism Corporation.

“We have displayed ‘out of order’ notices on all such machines installed at Karna Lake and Oasis Tourist Resort in Karnal and Skylark Tourist Resort in Panipat,” said Vijender Sharma, DM of Karnal and Panipat tourist resorts.