Go Natural, Use CNG in Vehicle, Air pollution is Violation of Right to Life

'High air pollution is violation of the right to life, which includes the right of enjoyment of pollution-free water and air for full enjoyment of life. Interpretation of Article 21 (right to life and liberty) of the Indian Constitution.'- Karnataka High Court

With a large number of Indian cities embarking on natural gas vehicle programme it is essential that the elements of these programmes are well defined for maximum environmental and public health gains. It is important that the lessons are drawn from the well established programmes in the region to chart the future course. The existing programs in Indian cities are of varying scale and scope and reflect the regional imperatives. Environmental imperatives are much stronger in India today, which in conjunction with the energy security concerns are propelling these programs.

The front runner cities that have already established their first generation CNG programmes like Delhi and Mumbai along with the new ones are at the throes of planning the second generation expansion. This will require well thought out policy and criteria to maximize the environmental and public health benefits of these programmes and also make them economically effective. Therefore, it is important to consider the criteria on the basis of which the future expansion of CNG infrastructure and transport sector programmes will be planned in India.

Currently, it is estimated that the transportation sector uses up less than 2 per cent of the natural gas in the country. As the natural gas grid further expands and more cities begin to get access to natural gas, the prospect of its application in the transportation sector also increases. The compressed natural gas vehicle (CNG) programme is expected to expand considerably in future.

According to the estimates of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, currently, there are 7 lakh natural gas vehicles in the country. This is expected to increase to 58 lakh over the next 10 years. Delhi alone has more than 2 lakh vehicles. Around 30 cities have access to CNG and some of them have implemented the programme of varying scope. It is also expected that the pipeline network will increase to 15,000 Km and implementation of city gas distribution network will cover around 150 to 200 cities by 2014. This potential can be further exploited if the natural gas distribution network is expanded and strengthened.

Environmental imperatives of CNG programmes in India: The use of natural gas in the transportation sector is primarily driven by the environmental and public health imperatives. Indian cities of Delhi and Mumbai had started implementing natural gas vehicle programmes during the nineties when even Euro I emissions standards were not in place and the sulfur content of diesel in India was as high as 5000 – 10,000 ppm. With fuel substitution, these cities were able to leapfrog to much cleaner emission levels.

The India’s NGV programmes have primarily targeted the most polluting segments on the Indian roads that include diesel buses, three-wheelers, taxis and small commercial vehicles. This is somewhat different from the much older but very large programmes of Argentina and Pakistan where petrol driven light-duty cars were targeted largely for energy security reasons. Natural gas is abundantly available in Argentina, Bangladesh and Pakistan and it is easier for them to run their spark ignition petrol engines on natural gas as an energy security measure. Pakistan and Bangladesh however, have started to target diesel bus sector now for environmental reasons.

The CNG programme targeted diesel vehicles in India mainly because diesel-related pollutants are either already very high or rapidly increasing in Indian cities. While more than half of Indian cities are reeling under critical level of particulate matter, the NOx levels have also begun to rise. There are serious public concerns over health implications of diesel related fine PM, and other air toxics. These fears are supported by the sprinkling of studies in India on health impacts as well as the epidemiological studies from other parts of the world that have shown statistically significant associations of ambient PM levels with a variety of health effects in sensitive populations, including premature mortality, hospital admissions, respiratory illness and changes in pulmonary function.

Thus, Indian cities cannot continue to add the high emitters of PM and NOx, like conventional diesel vehicles. The level of roadside exposure to pollution from traffic has a significant effect on health and the severity of the public health impact. Rate of dieselization of the light duty vehicle sector is already quite high. In 2000 the share of diesel cars in the new car fleet was just about 4 per cent. This has already increased to 30 percent and is expected to be half by 2012.

 In India, rigorous emissions inventories have not been carried out to understand the impact of dieselisation on ambient air. A collage of small evidences, however, bears out the impact on air quality. A World Bank supported study on source apportionment of PM2.5 (particulate matter less than 2.5 micron in size) in selected Indian cities released in 2004 shows that, depending on the season, the contribution of diesel fuel to the total PM2.5 ambient concentration can be as high as 61 per cent in Kolkata, 23 per cent in Delhi and 25 per cent in Mumbai.

A 2004 study carried out by Mario Camarsa, then with the UK-based Enstrat International Limited, has assessed the impact of low-sulphur diesel fuel on diesel emissions in three Asian cities — Bangkok, Bangalore and Manila.iii This bears out the varying but growing trends in diesel emissions in these cities. In the Indian city of Bangalore, the Camarsa study found diesel engines to be a significant contributor of the total NOx emissions from vehicles — as much as 40 per cent — and comparatively less significant contributor of PM10.iv

The concern over air pollution and particularly toxicity of diesel pollution had propelled the public campaigns in Delhi.

More reading click this link; www.cseindia.org/userfiles/cngfuture_pdf.pdf

Adding to this yesterday(23.04.2015) the Karnataka High court made clear to the State Government that all public transport vehicles and three wheelers in Bengaluru city would have to be compulsorily run on CNG at the earliest and diesel vehicles kept off the road. 

The court cautioned the authorities that it would treat high Air pollution in the city as violation of the right to life. (A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D.H. Waghela and Justice Ram Mohan Reddy made these observations orally during the hearing of public interest litigation petition suo motu initiated by the court based on newspaper reports on high air and noise pollution in the city.

(Note- Post Courtesy to CSE & The Hindu)