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National

Massive transition to public transport mooted

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

To deal with the challenge of pollution and congestion, says EPCA

Cities are fighting a losing battle against air pollution
Urgent need to bring in a drastic time-bound action plan

NEW DELHI: Critically polluted cities in India need a massive transition to public transport running on clean fuel to deal with the challenge of pollution and congestion.

This is the verdict of the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), the pollution monitoring arm of the Supreme Court, which on Friday released a seven-point agenda of action for improving air quality in Indian cities.

“Over the years, it has become clear that each city is fighting a losing battle against air pollution and growing congestion — because of the growing numbers of vehicles. Economic progress of our cities will depend on their environmental health. A turnaround is only possible when these cities recognise the need for a transition to public transport and adopt it,” said EPCA chairperson Bhure Lal.

He made the announcement at a meeting organised on Friday to discuss the action plan for cities. The meeting was attended by representatives of pollution control bodies and officials of the State administrations of eight of the nine pollution-ridden cities that the EPCA has been monitoring.

The cities are Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Bangalore (Karnataka), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Kanpur and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) and Pune and Sholapur (Maharashtra).

These eight cities stand to gain from a recent economic stimulus package of the Union Government. The package, which was welcomed by the EPCA, will provide funds to cities under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for buying urban transport buses. This initiative will greatly help cities move towards the much-needed transition, said Mr. Lal.

Centre for Science and Environment director and EPCA member Sunita Narain said: “This is clearly an opportunity to reform and reinvent mobility, and cities need to grab this opportunity.”

But to get this fund, the cities would have to meet some conditions set by the Union Urban Development Ministry. These conditions call for the cities to prepare a project report giving details of the city bus service/bus rapid transit system’s planning, financial arrangements, user charges, sustainability analysis, operational maintenance, etc. and ensure that the scheme for buses is tied to certain reforms in the field of urban transport, noted Ms. Narain.

Stating that there was an urgent need to bring in a drastic time-bound action plan, the EPCA has also listed a seven-point plan for city-wide action on transport. This includes devising a strategy for bus ownership and management based on current best practices and feasible options, understanding costs associated with bus management and options for financing and management, including fiscal reforms, examining the possibility of dedicated and or demarcated bus lanes in the city, understanding the availability and costs of urban buses in the country, and devising a funding mechanism for public transport.

The meeting also discussed the issue of a parking policy. “Global experience bears out that parking management is one of the most powerful instruments to reduce travel by personal vehicles. But parking demand is gregarious, aggressive and insatiable. Therefore, we need to have a policy that works on the principle of parking restraint,” he added.

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