Corporates to adopt green ways of commuting on World Environment Day

To promote green and sustainable transportation, employees of nine multinational companies based in the city have decided to walk, cycle or take public transport to work on World Environment Day on June 5. The idea is to promote the concept of shared mobility among officer goers in the city as a long-term, viable option for commute and make residents aware of the detrimental impact of transport-related pollution on the city’s environment said senior management of the companies that are leading the initiative.

The campaign, initiated by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), Haryana, has so far seen participation from companies, such as Capgemini, NTT Data, MattsenKumar, Dell, Nagarro, Egon Zehnder, Incedo Inc, and Fitso. According to NASSCOM members, several other companies have also shown interest in participating.

Manas Fuloria, co-founder and CEO, Nagarro, which is based in Udyog Vihar, said, “We have about 5,000 employees but have parking space for only 700 cars. If last-mile connectivity in the city is improved, more employees can adopt public transport. The initiative is a signal to the city’s authorities to invest more on the city’s buses and other forms of shared transportation.”

Fuloria said he is promoting the use of cycles, carpool, city buses and electricity-based vehicles for commute in his office as well as on social media. “Everyone can take note of the challenges they faced commuting publicly, take photos where they faced problems. This would serve as a model for authorities to follow,” he added.

At Capgemini in Sector 49, most of the 700 employees currently use private cabs. Vice-president Sandeep Bhatia said staff’s reaction to the green commuting plan has been positive.

“We have turned this into a mini contest of sorts so people are excited. They’ve been asked to form groups and whoever does the best to save the environment can plant trees on a green patch of land we own,” Bhatia said, adding that even though it is only a day-long initiative, it would act as a starting point towards adopting public transport.

Several others recalled the ‘car-free Tuesdays’ initiative that was started in 2015 to promote the use of public transport. “That led to a push towards the usage of Metro and shared bus services. While public transport in the city has improved since then, the government needs to increase the last-mile connectivity so that more people opt for it. The time has come to persuade the government to increase last-mile connectivity,” said Aarati Kumar, co-founder and CEO, MattsenKumar in Udyog Vihar. She added that the rapid Metro connectivity hasn’t been extended to Udyog Vihar and the city lacks proper walking and cycling infrastructure. “We need support from the local authorities and this initiative is a way to get that,” Kumar said.

Yashpal Yadav, commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) said he will be joining the initiative.

“All MCG officials have been requested to cycle to work on June 5. We are looking at providing basic infrastructure to promote cycling and walking and would come up with a plan soon,” he said.