HUMAN COMMUNITIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Q.8. Briefly explain the case study of CNG use in Delhi.

Ans. Introduction: Pollution is one of the major issues causing concern not only in India but across the world. The technological advancement and speedy development since India's Independence has come at a great environmental cost. Delhi, the national capital of the country, is being tagged as one of the most heavily polluted capital cities in the world. It is the world's worst city in terms of air pollution, with an unhealthy air quality index for the majority of the year.

Case Study: Use of CNG in Delhi

Because the government had taken no appropriate action to combat air pollution, the Supreme Court of India took over the responsibility and issued on July 28, 1998 a time frame for measures to be taken. The order was directed towards the government of the national capital region (NCR), which includes Delhi.

Measures taken:

(i) Replacement of all pre-1990 autos and taxis with new vehicles using fuels clean.

(ii) Financial incentives for replacement of all post-1990 autos and taxis with new vehicles on clean fuels. 

(iii) No buses more than eight years old to ply except on CNG or other clean fuels.

(iv) Entire city bus fleet (DTC and private to be steadily converted to single fuel mode on CNG.

(v) New interstate bus terminals (ISBT) to be built at entry points in the north and southwest to avoid pollution due to entry of inter-state buses. (vi) Gas Authority of India Ltd. to expand its CNG dispensing capacity from nine stations to 80.

Impact:

The results point to the success of a number of policies implemented in Delhi but also to a number of areas of growing concern. For example, the results suggest that the conversion of buses from diesel to CNG has helped to reduce particulate matters (PM10), carbon monoxide (CO), and sulphur dioxide (SO2) concentrations in the city. However, the conversion of three-wheelers from petrol to CNG has not had the same benefit, possibly because of poor technology. Another policy measure that appears to have had a positive impact on air quality is the reduction in the sulphur content of diesel and petrol. This has led to a decrease in S02 levels and because of conversion of SO2 to sulphates, a decrease in PM10 concentrations Some of these gains from fuel switching and fuel-quality improvements are however, being negated by the increase in the proportion of diesel-fuelled cars. which is leading to an increase in PM10 and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels, and by the sheer increase in the number of vehicles.