Transport dept set to ban diesel buses in Patna from Oct 1 to curb pollution

According to the officer, the state government would provide financial support to owners of those diesel buses, who operate city bus service in Patna, to switch over to compressed natural gases (CNG) buses under the clean energy scheme.

PATNA: After completely phasing out diesel autos a year ago, the state transport department has decided to ban operations of diesel-powered buses plying in urban areas of Patna with effect from October 1, said a senior officer familiar with the matter.

The decision to phase out diesel buses were taken to curb air pollution, an officer said. (HT Photo)

According to the officer, the state government would provide financial support to owners of those diesel buses, who operate city bus service in Patna, to switch over to compressed natural gases (CNG) buses under the clean energy scheme.

The officer said that the department had issued a circular on March 31 so that the owners of city buses could plan the switch over to CNG buses in time and escape penalty. “Operation of diesel buses will be completely banned in territorial jurisdictions of Patna municipal corporation (PMC) and town councils (nagar parishads) of Danapur, Phulwari Sharif, and Khagaul from October 1,” said the officer, adding that the decision to phase out diesel buses were taken to curb air pollution.

As per the notification issued by the department, the state government would provide a subsidy up to 30% value of the new CNG buses of 24+driver or 32+D configuration or up to ₹7.50 lakh per new CNG bus. As many as 121 beneficiaries of the subsidy would be chosen in the first phase by the committee, headed by the district magistrate (DM) and comprising the district transport officer (DTO) and the sub-divisional officer (SDO).

The beneficiaries of the government subsidy are deemed to declare their diesel buses as scrap or will be allowed to run the buses outside Patna’s urban limit. “Diesel buses may be allowed to run in other towns for the time being. However, the department is contemplating a complete ban on diesel buses across the state sooner or later. All transporters need to take recourse to clean energy to join in the country’s drive to check carbon emission,” said the officer.