Battling Pollution

The longstanding pollution issue in Pune has once again entered the limelight after the city was listed as one of the 14 most polluted cities in the country.

The insistence on employing Compressed Natural Gas as the primary source to fuel public transport doesn't come as a surprise to most Puneites.  A survey recently revealed that use of CNG could lower pollution levels in the city by as much as 95 percent.
Extolling the virtues of the alternative, Kishor Gujar, a CNG rickshaw owner, said, "CNG is beneficial as it's cheaper as compared to petrol and offers great fuel efficiency. I pay Rs 30 for 1kg of CNG lesser than I'd pay for a litre of petrol and the vehicle averages 8-10 kmph better than petrol."
 Presently, the city has five CNG pumps, with a few more in the pipeline, which will be in service from June onwards this year. This spells into wider range of options available for those reluctant to switch to CNG for fear of paucity of refilling pumps. Currently, an average pump is equipped with four CNG nozzles, with one being dedicated to four-wheelers, making it possible for only three rickshaws to be refilled at a time. The efficiency of the filling process also hinges upon the gas pressure at the station. "We have to spend minimum two hours to fill the CNG on alternate days, which is time consuming," complained another rickshaw driver.
 "If the entire public transport system starts using CNG, the pollution levels will no doubt be greatly reduced. We have been in constant liaison with the government officials to push for the enforcement," said Ranchood Yagnik, chief general manager of the marketing and business division of Maharashtra Nigam Gas Limited (MNGL).
 Vijay Rapol, field officer of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, informed Cityplus that the climate and pollution data is compiled and sent to the Pune Municipal Corporation, post which, further precautionary/ corrective measures are implemented.


CNG PERKS ....
uIn this year budget, the Pune Municipal Corporation allocated two crore worth of subsidies for CNG rickshaws, a move that stands to benefit 1600 rickshaw drivers this year, out of which 325 have already reaped dividends.
uA subsidy of Rs 12,000 is given to every rickshaw driver equipping his vehicle with a CNG kit, up from the previous figure of Rs 2500 a month offered a few years ago.
uAround 15,000 rickshaws with CNG kits are currently plying in the city.

STARTLING RISE .....
The recent rate of increase in the number of vehicles on city roads has been staggering, claim officials. As per the data published by the Regional Transport Office of Pune, the total number of vehicles in Pune is 22,73,806, as of January 2012, taking the number of vehicles added to the roads in the past 10 months to 1,79,849.

Statistical revelation
Pune was selected as the demonstration city for the Urban Air Quality Management project following an agreement between United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India in 2002.  Air Quality Management Cell was set up to carry out weekly monitoring of air quality parameters from October 2006 onwards.
As per the recent data findings, re-suspension of road dust from paved roads accounts for approximately 55% of the total particulate load.

--Anuj Ismail,  Anup Satphale