Tag: Pollution Control

Patna’s new home delivery: pollution under control certificates

Source: downtoearth.org.in

Bihar’s transport department launched a mobile pollution testing van facility to deliver pollution under control (PUC) certificates on vehicle owners’ doorsteps.

After implementation of the new Motors Vehicles Act, penalty for violating PUC norms increased to Rs 10,000 and so did the footfall of certificate seekers at pollution testing centres. This prompted the department to launch the facility.

A trial of the mobile van facility was conducted at the Patna secretariat on September 18 and it will soon be completely functional with the launch of a toll-free number, said transport officials.

“We are in the process of launching a toll-free number. Once it starts functioning, the mobile van service will be operational too,” said Sanjay Agarwal, secretary, state transport department.

“Vehicle owners will then be able to call the van to their homes by dialling the toll-free number and get the PUC certificate issued on the spot within few minutes,” he added.

They will initially press 10 such vans into service in Patna and later expand it to other districts, said Agarwal.

Patna is the seventh-most polluted city in the world, according to a recent Greenpeace report. The annual level of particulate matter 2.5 in 2018 was 119.7 micrograms per cubic metre in Patna, added the 2018 World Air Quality Report, jointly prepared by IQAir AirVisual and Greenpeace.

The fear of the fine and inadequate number of pollution testing centres made vehicle owners opt for public transport.

“My PUC certificate has expired, so I have stopped rising my bike to work. I am commuting through public transport so I don’t have to pay a heavy penalty. Also, there are no pollution testing centres in and around my locality so I have failed to get the certificate renewed,” said Dilip Kumar Singh, who works in a private company in Patna.

There are around 500 such centres in Bihar, of which 98 are in Patna district, according to a report by the state transport department.

The department has also asked all petrol pumps and service centres of automobile companies to set up pollution testing centres soon. “Opening of these centres will not only curb air pollution but also provide job opportunities to youths,” said the transport secretary.

There are 2,550 outlets of various oil marketing companies in the state.

There’s also a plan to set up 150 more centres in the state in the next six months.

Bihar plans all-CNG commercial car fleet for Patna

Source: downtoearth.org.in

The Bihar government said it plans to convert all commercial vehicles running on fossil fuel to be powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), starting with Patna.

The number of vehicles registered in Bihar jumped 6.5 times in 11 years to 950,120 (February 2018), according to the state transport department. Pollution hasn’t been far behind.

The state capital was ranked the seventh-most polluted city in the world, with a PM (particulate matter) 2.5 count of 119.7 mg, according to the 2018 World Air Quality Report prepared by IQAir AirVisual and non-profit Greenpeace.

The Bihar State Pollution Control Board blamed this on vehicular emission, domestic fuel burning, burning of waste in the open, construction, industrial emissions and road dust.

Owners of all commercial vehicles in Patna have been advised to switch over to CNG to keep air pollution in check, transport department authorities said. “We are encouraging vehicle owners to opt for CNG; not only is it cheaper but also environment friendly,” state Transport Secretary Sanjay Agarwal told Down to Earth on September 5, 2019.

He said the current focus was on Patna and cars with petrol engines, even as the department was firming up a policy. Diesel-run vehicles will be taken up subsequently. Eight companies have been authorised to fit old vehicles with CNG kits, depending on models and variants, he added.

An official report pegged the number of commercial vehicles retrofitted with CNG kits at 150 so far.

The move hasn’t gone down smoothly with owners of commercial vehicles though. Describing the move as a punishment, Ranjeet Kumar, secretary of the Patna chapter of All India Road Transport and Workers Federation, said: “This will destroy our business and leave our families to starve.”

Auto drivers, who make an average Rs400-500 a day, will have to shell out about Rs 35,000 for a CNG kit. “How can they afford that without any government subsidy?” Kumar asked and warned of protests in case the government didn’t look into demands.

Of the state’s 922,500 commercial vehicles, 225,000 are auto-rickshaws, 190,000 trucks, 325,000 tactors, 75,000 buses, and 7000-7500 are tanker lorries.

Agarwal denied that the government was pressuring vehicle owners. State Transport Minister Santosh Kuamr Nirala, however, said on September 4 that though there was no compulsion and vehicle owners can attach kits voluntarily, “after certain period, conversion of all vehicles to CNG will be made mandatory.”

The lack of CNG filling stations — Patna has only two at the moment — is also a worry. The government has announced that three more will be added by mid-October.