Facing pollution flak, UPSRTC to rope in CNG, BS-VI buses in Gzb

Ghaziabad: Facing criticism for operating diesel buses which leads to air pollution, the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) has finally decided to rope in 208 contract carriage buses in Ghaziabad that will run on CNG or will be BS-VI compliant

Ghaziabad: Facing criticism for operating diesel buses which leads to air pollution, the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) has finally decided to rope in 208 contract carriage buses in Ghaziabad that will run on CNG or will be BS-VI compliant.

Ghaziabad, India - November 11, 2022: A view of the Old Bus Stand in Ghaziabad, India, on Friday, November 11, 2022. (Photo by Sakib Ali /Hindustan Times)

UPSRTC officials on Friday said that the move will help reduce vehicular emission and the tenders for the contract carriage buses are likely to open in the next 12 days.

The agency operates 889 buses from ISBT Kashmere Gate and Anand Vihar in Delhi, ISBT Kaushambi, Loni and the Old Bus stand in Ghaziabad. The existing fleet has only 141 CNG buses, while only eight are BSVI compliant, sources said.

The buses operate from specified locations to different cities such as Meerut, Aligarh, Bulandshahr, Bareilly, Lucknow and Kanpur, among others, besides different cities in Uttarakhand.

“The last time contract carriage buses were roped in was in the year 2016 and a majority of these were diesel buses that were aiding air pollution. This time, we have decided to rope in 208 buses and these will be either CNG or BS-VI compliant vehicles. This will help in reducing pollution. The tendering process is underway and they will be floated in the next 12 days,” said AK Singh, UPSRTC regional manager.

The buses will include different categories such as ordinary, mid-section, AC and high-end buses such as Volvos.

“We are stressing on reducing pollution and have also sent a requirement of 200 CNG buses and 300 BS-VI buses for our fleet in Ghaziabad. The requirement was sent to our headquarters in August and allocation of buses will largely depend on the availability of funds,” Singh said.

UPSRTC officials said that in order to attract operators for the tenders, the UPSRTC has also lowered the administrative charge of ₹8.75 per kilometre to ₹7-8.5 per kilometre.

The UPSRTC’s ISBT at Kaushambi is dubbed as a pollution aiding source due to its operation of diesel-run buses. The ISBT is located next to Kaushambi high-rises and the residents’ welfare association (RWA) body also moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in September 2015, against different pollution sources affecting the township.

“The tribunal in its order on May 18, 2016, gave directions and also said that only CNG buses should operate from ISBT Kaushambi. The bus terminus is a major pollution source for the high-rise residential societies here. However, the agency operates only about 140 CNG buses. Thereafter, we moved the Supreme Court in December 2020, and our petition related to air pollution is pending. It is imperative for the UPSRTC to add more clean fuel buses. This will help reduce vehicular emission and abate pollution levels in Ghaziabad,” said VK Mittal, president of Kaushambi Apartments RWA, an umbrella body of Kaushambi RWAs.

Ghaziabad is among the 16 “non-attainment” cities in the state of UP and its pollution levels generally remain on the higher side during the onset of winter. Cities are declared “non-attainment” if they do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter (PM10) or nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over a period of five years.

Earlier in April this year, Ghaziabad was ranked as the second-most polluted city in the world on the World Air Quality Report 2021 after Bhiwadi in Rajasthan. The annual report, prepared by Switzerland-based organisation IQAir, surveyed 6,475 cities across the world.