All apartment blocks to come up in Calcutta have to reserve a certain portion of their parking area to set up electric vehicle charging stations, mayor Firhad Hakim said on Friday.

Apartment blocks with built-up area of 20,000sqm or more have to reserve 10 per cent of the parking area to set up the charging station. The ones with built-up area of less than 20,000sqm have to set aside five per cent of the parking space for the purpose.

Sources in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation said the rule would only be applicable to new buildings.

“We have decided that all new buildings must keep space within their parking area to set up charging stations for electric vehicles,” the mayor said.

Sources in the corporation said the mayor wanted enough charging stations across the the city so people did not hesitate to switch to electric cars from the ones running on diesel and petrol.

Environmentalists said a large fleet of electric vehicles would help improve the air quality. The exhaust fumes of diesel vehicles are thought to be the biggest contributor to the city’s air pollution.

Rebate

Hakim also announced that senior citizens would enjoy a rebate on the building plan sanction fee. “The sanction fee for building plans will be 10 per cent less for senior citizens,” he said.

The CMC allows 10 per cent reduction on property tax to senior citizens.