Horse carriages at Victoria may soon be a passé

Manufacturer offers electronic substitute

KOLKATA: The horse drawn carriages in and around the Victoria Memorial may soon vanish as a private organisation has manufactured Victorian-style electronic carriages, which is going to be cost-efficient and also no animal will be harmed.

On Thursday, the organisation that works for the sake of the animals informed about the cart at the Press Club and also demonstrated the carts. The officials also talked to some horse drawn cart owners and informed them about the e- carriages.

This e-carriage is a battery-operated, sleek, and environment-friendly vehicle with a vintage Victorian-style design. “Kolkata’s horses suffer from malnourishment, lameness, and festering wounds just to give people rides, but now modern technology offers carriage drivers and tourists a humane, better path,” said an official.

The organisation also conducted a survey and found that more than 100 horses used for rides in the city are anaemic, malnourished, and chronically starved; some suffer from severe injuries, including bone fractures; and many are forced to live amid their own waste on filthy, decrepit, and illegally occupied premises in the city, including an encroachment

This e-carriage is a battery-operated, sleek, and environmentfriendly vehicle with a vintage Victorian-style design

area under a flyover.However, the project is in its early stage. As of now the organisation is trying to convince the horse drawn carriage owners to shift to the e-carriage. The price of the e-carriage is yet to be finalised.