Navdeep Asija (born in

Fazilka Fazilka, also known as Bangla, is a city and a municipal council in Fazilka district of Punjab, India. In 2011, it was made the headquarter of the newly created Fazilka district. The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline (TAPI) project originating in Tu ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

) is the founder of dial-a-cycle rickshaw concept known as Ecocabs and won the 2011 National Award of Excellence by Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. Asija holds Ph.D. degree in road safety from the

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi is a public institute of technology located in New Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 IITs created to be Centres of Excellence for training, research and development in science, engineering and technolo ...

and is currently serving the state of Punjab as Traffic Advisor to Punjab Government appointed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court and been associated with Home Affairs and Justice, State of

Asija's largest impact is in the development of the Ecocab concept, which is a dial-a-cycle-

rickshaw A rickshaw originally denoted a two- or three-wheeled passenger cart, now known as a pulled rickshaw, which is generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (also ...

equivalent to normal cab services accomplished with gasoline-powered

automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

. The recent development of advanced IT tools and the spread of

cell phones A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

have made it possible to balance the supply and demand of passengers and rickshaw taxis via a distributed fleet and automation. Asija demonstrated the concept of Ecocabs first in

, a district headquarters of the

State, which is located near India-Pakistan Border. The rickshaw program decreased

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...

by reducing the use of

fossil fuels A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ...

for transporting passengers, while at the same time reducing the startup costs for entrepreneurs performing taxi services.

Car free and non-motor transport and "Right to Walk" movement in Punjab, India

He is a pioneer to start

Car-free movement The car-free movement is a broad, informal, emergent network of individuals and organizations, including social activists, urban planners, transportation engineers, environmentalists and others, brought together by a shared belief that large and ...

and promotion of non-motorised transport in

state of

. His advocacy tool helped city municipal council to decongest the major commercial hub, the clock tower market area of the city

into a pedestrian by establishing India's first car free zone. Later the same concept was taken up by the

Punjab and Haryana High Court Punjab and Haryana High Court is the common High Court for the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh based in Chandigarh, India. Sanctioned strength of Judges of this High Court is 85 consisting of 64 Per ...

in the form of

Sua sponte In law, ''sua sponte'' (Latin: "of his, her, its or their own accord") or ''suo motu'' ("on its own motion") describes an act of authority taken without formal prompting from another party. The term is usually applied to actions by a judge taken wi ...

, Public Interest Litigation, and asked the authorities to identify and establish vehicle free areas in each town and city of

including Sector 17 of Union Territory of

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

Punjab.

is a capital city for the state of

and

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

. In his recent public interest litigation he sought directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court for enforcement of "right to walk" while claiming that it was part of "right to life" under Article 21 of Constitution of India.

Awards and Recognitions

* Best Citizen Award by City Administration of Fazilka for contribution in the area of Road Safety on the occasion of Republic Day 2011. * National Award of Excellence by Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India for Ecocabs in 2011 * His Fazilka Ecocabs venture qualified in the World's Top 15 for MobiPrize. Mobiprize is an award for entrepreneurial ventures in sustainable transportation. Created by the University of Michigan SMART initiative with the generous support of the Rockefeller Foundation in 2012. * Geometric designed work on "Gazipur flyover, Delhi (on NH-24 bypass and Road Number 56)" won Vishawakarma National Award for best Project in Urban Transport Category and its integration with non motor transport facilities for the year 2012. * His venture Ecocab-Dial a Rickshaw, received Runner up Volvo Sustainable Mobility Award 2013 for unique Initiative. * Promising Active Transport Social Entrepreneurs by Embarq India for Ecocabs in the year 2015. * Listed in the list of 30 Extraordinary Indians, “who made the difference in what India needs and citizens have decided to make it their life's mission to provide it” leading Magazine and Media Group of India “India Today” on the occasion of their 68th Independence Day Special Issue (2015).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asija, Navdeep Living people People from Fazilka district Indian environmentalists Year of birth missing (living people) Cycling advocates

Car free and non-motor transport and "Right to Walk" movement in Punjab, India

Awards and Recognitions

See also

References