Navdeep Asija 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 a Ph.D. degree in road safety from the

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT- Delhi) is a Public university, public institute of technology located in Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology created to be a Centre of Excellence for India's training, res ...

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

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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

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

equivalent to normal cab services accomplished with gasoline-powered

automobiles A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

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

cell phones A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive Telephone call, calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones (landline phone ...

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

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 T ...

, a district headquarters of the

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

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

by reducing the use of

fossil fuels A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geologica ...

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 social movement centering the belief that large and/or high-speed motorized vehicles (cars, trucks, tractor units, motorcycles, etc.) are too dominant in modern life, particularly in urban areas such as cities and suburb ...

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 Pe ...

in the form of

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

, 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 city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

Punjab.

is a capital city for the state of

and

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

. 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 Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially calle ...

2011. * National Award of Excellence by Ministry of

Urban Development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

, 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 The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

SMART initiative with the generous support of the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

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 Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of ...

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