India, Aug. 14 -- Electric buses in Chennai are transforming daily life, cutting smoke and noise at busy stops like Adyar Beach.

With over 30% of the MTC fleet now electric, Tamil Nadu has seen a 22% drop in fine particulate matter in five years.

Experts hail cleaner air and quieter streets, while warning that true climate gains depend on greener electricity and stronger public transport.

Seventy-five-year-old Urdawala is busy stringing a garland in the scorching sun near the Madras Transport Corporation (MTC) bus stop at Adyar Beach in Chennai. "I don't know why I have been feeling less of this bright sun for the last one-and-a-half to two years. Otherwise at first, it was unbearable and my body used to burn."

She says that earlier t...