The roadmap for decreasing pollution in eight ‘‘critically polluted’’ cities, it seems, will take longer to be achieved. The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), a Supreme Court body monitoring pollution in cities, has noted that CNG deadlines won’t be met in many cases. For cleaner air, it suggested the focus be turned to upgrading ‘‘non-existent’’ transport systems.
The EPCA report says Kanpur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Pune, Sholapur and Hyderabad could get natural gas by mid-2006 but Chennai and Bangalore would get it only after the national gas grid is complete. CNG is to come to Kanpur, Lucknow and Pune by the second half of 2004 and Sholapur and Hyderabad by second half of 2006. ‘‘However, these deadlines, in most cases are not being adhered to…The delay is jeopardizing the air pollution programme in these cities. The programme is dependent on the move to CNG as a clean fuel, combined with upgraded public transport systems,’’ the report said.
The other issue the EPCA report brings up is the ‘‘non-existent public transport system’’. The body notes that Chennai has seen a 10 per cent growth in people but a 108 per cent growth in private vehicles in the last decade. Another instance is of Ahmedabad which in 1990 had 800 buses (23 buses per 100,000 people).’’ But by 2003, it had only 400.
The body wants the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas ministry to come up with a time-bound plan for supplying CNG to the polluted cities and the ministry of urban development to respond on the national level policy on public transport with a time-bound plan.
According to the revised deadlines, Chennai and Bangalore will be shifting to LPG, as the city doesn’t have ready access to CNG now. Chennai will set up 28 auto LPG dispensing stations and Bangalore, 17, by March 31 this year. All autos in Bangalore will shift to LPG by July 18, 2006. Both cities have to prepare a comprehensive plan for upgrading public transport by March 31, 2005.
Hyderabad already has LPG supply and there is a possibility of CNG as well. In Pune, EPCA says, GAIL has to ensure that it meets its deadline of December 2005 for supply of CNG to the city and public transport roadmap is to be submitted by April 2006.
In Ahmedabad, EPCA has set a deadline of 10 CNG stations by March 31, 2005 and 10 more stations by July 31 2005.