Govt mulls phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles to control pollution

Maharashtra may ban petrol and diesel vehicles in Mumbai to combat pollution, forming a committee to explore phasing them out for CNG and electric options.

MUMBAI: In order to curb rising pollution, the Maharashtra government is contemplating a ban on petrol- and diesel-run vehicles in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). It has formed a committee to look into whether vehicles running on petrol and diesel can be phased out and only CNG-based and electric vehicles permitted on the roads in the region. An order to this effect was issued by the transport department on Wednesday.

Govt mulls phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles to control pollution

The tremendous pollution in Mumbai has become a cause of concern for not only Mumbaikars but also the government whose various measures on this front have failed to show results so far. On January 9, the Bombay high court took suo motu cognisance of the alarming air pollution levels in Mumbai and surrounding areas, and directed the state government to form a committee of experts and civil administrators to suggest whether it would be feasible to phase out diesel and petrol vehicles from Mumbai and allow only CNG and electric ones.

Following the court directive, the state transport department issued a government resolution to form a seven-member committee headed by retired bureaucrat Sudhir Kumar Srivastava. The others on the committee are the transport commissioner, joint commissioner of police (transport), managing director, Mahanagar Gas Limited, project director, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, president, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers and the joint transport commissioner as member secretary. The committee has been asked to submit its report and recommendations in three months.

In December last year, most places in Mumbai were at the higher end of the Moderate category on the Air Quality Index and many were in the Poor category, leading the high court to emphasise the need for drastic measures to control the situation. It also noted that vehicular pollution was a major contributor to worsening air quality.