Fighting pollution: Pune authorities propose CNG for PMPML bus fleet

“Like Delhi, we too want to add fuel stations selling natural gas for motorists to encourage them to switch to the cleaner, cheaper fuel and curb emissions,” said a senior state government official who attended the meeting.

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“The proposal is in its preliminary stage. A detailed report will be prepared on how we can go about it after factoring in the number of CNG outlets at present and the fuel supplied to the city,” the official said.

Currently, the Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL) runs 33 CNG stations in Pune district, of which 17 are in Pune city and the remaining 16 in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The MNGL now plans to take up the number to 50 provided they get the clearances.

“With our existing 33 outlets in Pune, we at present cater to about 1 lakh vehicles, supplying 2.5 lakh kg of CNG gas daily. We are willing to set a target of 5-6 lakh vehicles in the city,” MNGL officials said.

However, even as Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been pushing for a cleaner vehicular fuel in view of the alarming pollution levels in cities, permissions for CNG outlets in the city have been few and far between. “We have 15-20 proposals stuck at various levels for building permissions, nod from MSEB, fire department and others, which together take more than six to seven months.
We can set up a CNG outlet in three months, but the long process to obtain permissions delays things,” MNGL officials said.

At the meeting, MNGL officials made a detailed presentation highlighting these issues and they now hope a single-window clearance system is put in place so that more CNG outlets can be opened.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered all city taxis to convert to CNG. Officials said efforts are under way to ensure all existing diesel taxis are converted to CNG by the end of April.

A good number of autorickshaws in the city have already switched to CNG.

Of late, car makers have been trying to attract customers with CNG-compatible models.

According to government statistics, India’s consumption of CNG rose by 13 per cent between April 2015 and February 2016.

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