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The Commission on Air Quality Management (CAQM) has urged Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to ensure that all buses coming from NCR regions bound for Delhi are either electric vehicles, running on CNG or are BS-VI diesel vehicles, by November 1 this year.
This, according to CAQM, is in a bid to deal with the contribution of vehicle sources to air pollution in Delhi-NCR.
The CAQM also urged states in the NCR to plan and aim for all buses that originate in the NCR or terminate in the NCR to be electric vehicles only by June 30, 2026. Another goal is a “significant number” of buses that originate in the NCR or terminate in the NCR to be electric vehicles by June 30, 2028.
A recent advisory report by CAQM states: “The remarkably large contribution from the transportation sector to the overall load of air pollution in the entire NCR, particularly during the winter season, needs confirmation. As with well-established, efficient and clean public transportation services, especially intercity and intercity bus services within the NCR, this should help reduce air pollution from this sector in the entire NCR.”
According to the advisory, CAQM has held meetings with NCR’s state governments and Delhi government to develop detailed action plans to ensure the shift to cleaner fuels in NCR’s bus services. One point to focus on in these plans is that bus services to Delhi via NCR from neighboring states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab will also be converted to electric vehicles or CNG buses in 5 years, and electric vehicles, CNG buses or BS-VI diesel vehicles in the medium term of three years.
States have been urged to finalize plans to ensure that only clean fuel-powered buses enter Delhi and NCR from other parts of the country. According to the CAQM, the state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan have formulated action plans to replace their BS-III and BS-IV diesel vehicles in phases, through the procurement of new BS-VI buses.
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