Diesel autos continue to ply, woeful lack of CNG stations

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 18

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has already banned the plying of diesel auto-rickshaws because they create excessive air pollution with poisonous smoke emitting from them.

However, the Punjab Government has failed to do their bit in encouraging auto-rickshaws to operate by using compressed natural gas (CNG). In the absence of adequate CNG-filling stations, auto-rickshaw drivers prefer using three-wheelers that run on diesel. At present, there is only one CNG-filling station in the city.

The Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), an NGO, has shot a letter to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to increase the number of CNG-filling stations, so that auto-rickshaw drivers could be encouraged to adopt CNG-operated auto-rickshaws.

The AVM patron, Prof Mohan Singh and president Kulwant Singh Ankhi, pointed out that the World Health Organisation had listed the holy city as one of the most-polluted cities in the world. They said the auto-rickshaws plying on diesel were one of the major sources of air pollution in the city.

Ankhi said air pollution was damaging the exterior of the Golden Temple, its marble and lustre of gold besides precious wall paintings and frescoes.

The AVM urged the Punjab Government to set up more and more CNG-filling stations in the city.