EVs to carry fish items from Benfish
The Statesman | 16 October 2025Nine vehicles were flagged off by the state fisheries minister Biplab Roy Chowdhury this afternoon in presence of Chandrima Bhattacharya, state finance minister, Kalyan Rudra, chairman state Pollution Control Board, Roshni Sen, additional chief secretary and other senior officials of the fisheries, environment departments and from Benfish.
Benfish has purchased nine customised ‘food-on-wheels’ built on Tata ACE EV models for selling cooked fish items at various locations in and around the city.
This is was a joint initiative of the state fisheries and environment departments to improve the air quality of the city and its surrounding areas under the National Clean Air Programme implemented by the West Bengal Pollution Control Board.
A study conducted in the cities, namely Kolkata, Howrah, Barrackpore, Asansol, Durgapur and Haldia reveal that the vehicular pollution is one of the major contributors to air pollution in Bengal. So, the primary objective is to replace the existing old diesel vehicles with a fleet of electric vehicles, thereby reducing air and noise pollution. Biplab Roy Chowdhury welcomed the move by Benfish to switch from diesel vending vans to electric vehicles to reduce carbon footprint.
The EVs have been customised to become self-reliant food trucks to sell the fish items prepared at Benfish Processing Centre. There is a refrigerator which enables storage of frozen products, while the window provides shelters to customers from rain and sun. Each vehicle is also fitted with fire extinguishers to prevent fire hazards. There is a digital display which will facilitate the dissemination of information through audio visuals from various government departments such as fisheries, environment, health and family welfare, consumer affairs, tourism etc for public awareness.
