theyve been part of innumerable books as well as served as backdrops in yesteryear movies adding a colonial charm to bombay of yore were referring to the beautiful horsedrawn victoria carriages that operated in the city for close to a century four years ago a ban citing animal cruelty forced them to withdraw and fade away into oblivion not for long the carriages are back and how animal lovers can take heart from the fact that the revived carriages operate without horses the new avatar as batteryoperated ebuggies are set to hit mumbai streets on september 1 bt however could not wait and hopped on one before its official launch and got a firsthand experience of what it felt like to ride victoria 20the plan is to roll out 40 ebuggies in phase 1 in the city imagine taking a leisurely ride on a comfortable buggy past the citys iconic structures as the colonial charm of south mumbai unfolds before your eyes during the ride an audio guide narrates the history of each heritage wonder you can get off stroll around and hop onto another ebuggy says ketan kadam who along with actor dino morea is responsible for the revival of the carriages the victorias were once such a beautiful part of the city we wanted to bring that charm back albeit in an ebuggy styleketan kadam says you can just stop them anywhere and hop on and off at will unlike horsedrawn carriages these electric buggies can navigate heavy traffic routes easily the plan is to roll out 40 of them in phase 1while the ebuggies look like their predecessors the feel is something else they are a 20 version of the former he explains the rides are equipped with a gpstriggered audio tour so when the carriage stops at a certain place like gateway of india you choose your language and it will autonarrate the history of the gateway there are also bluetooth speakers for riders to enjoy their kind of music buggies to hit sobo first adah takes a few selfies on the electric carriagethe ebuggy will initially cover lesser congested routes says ketan the buggies will begin ferrying people in south mumbai which covers areas like the gateway of india ballard estate nariman point csmt chhatrapati shivaji maharajterminus and fountain in the second phase they may ply in five gardens dadar and carter road bandra we caught the carriage on a rainy morning at csmt as it stood glistening in the early drizzle curiosity about the new buggy also got actress adah sharma to come across town to clamber aboard one i was a part of the demonstration seeking a ban on horsedrawn carriages as i was and continue to be against animal abuse so i am really excited to know that there will be ebuggies which will not involve any cruelty against animals she said adding with a glint in her eyes the electric buggy is also romantic im going looking for someone to