The Hindu : New Delhi News : Pollution test for CNG vehicles sought

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 14, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Pollution test for CNG vehicles sought

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, OCT. 13. Worried over reluctance of government agencies and automobile manufacturers to carry forward the battle to clean Delhi's air, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority has sought mandatory introduction of "lambda test'' for checking "pollution'' in eco-friendly CNG vehicles. It has also sought data on how many CNG buses and other such vehicles have reported burn-out of their catalytic converters in the recent past.

It has asked the Delhi Government to cancel the fitness certificates of all vehicles found indulging in visible pollution due to poor maintenance. EPCA has sought a weekly report from the State Transport Department about how many fitness certificates of such polluting vehicles had been terminated and also wants the Government to widely publicise this drive against pollution.

The EPCA is worried over detection of an increasing number of CNG vehicles emitting pollutants in violation of norms. During its recent inspection on Delhi roads along with Transport Department officials, it detected that some of the CNG buses were polluting the atmosphere and so were the CNG autorickshaws emitting white smoke.

However, it has been clarified that the CNG vehicle pollution was not on account of the eco-friendly fuel but more so because of the poor maintenance of vehicles. "We have approached the Supreme Court for making lambda test mandatory for CNG vehicles having catalytic converters. The matter is likely to come up for hearing after four weeks during which the respondent parties have been asked to put forward their views. This is a worrying situation and something drastic needs to be done to stop Delhi's air from getting polluted by invisible pollutants,'' remarked the Centre for Science (CSE) Director and EPCA member, Sunita Narain.

During the anti-pollution drive, it was found that too much of oil was being used by autorickshaw drivers to prevent burning of pistons. The quality of oil used was of adulterated nature and these autorickshaws were found emitting white smoke, polluting the air. Ms.Narain refused to blame the autorickshaw drivers for this deteriorating situation and said the onus on fitness of the vehicle lay on the owner. It is a fact that majority of the three-wheelers in the Capital are rented out on a daily basis and in order to save money, the drivers use inferior quality oil.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi