Pune, September 1: Pune Municipal Transport was the first to embrace bio-diesel when it converted 100 buses the green way in early July. Now, the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded the Pune Municipal Corporation a grant of $ 296,000 (Rs 1.37 crore) to go in for retrofitting of its city buses in a bid to improve its local air quality management practices and reduce emissions. This will make Pune the first city to introduce retrofitted engines in its public transport vehicles.
As a pilot project, 20 PMT Euro 2 buses would be retrofitted. PMT Manager (Traffic and Administration) Shivajirao Rane and USTDA’s Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia Carl B Kress signed the enabling agreement in Mumbai on Friday.
In all, there are 300 Euro 2 standard PMT buses that are 1-5 years old. The exhaust pipes of the buses would be fitted with catalytic conversions. At the same time special low sulphur diesel would be used in the retrofitted buses. Talks are on with private companies for supplying the diesel.
Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer said the grant would be a big boost for the city’s transport body. ‘‘Retrofitting is one of the most viable options for upgrading the old engines. It is also one of the better technologies available to improve the standards of the bus. Retrofitting would not only help in reducing pollution but also improve the engine’s condition,’’ he said.
After retroffiting the 20 buses a study would be conducted on the changes in the release of emissions. ‘‘The convertors would help in reducing the emissions. Moreover the pollutants when released would be filtered,’’ Rane said. The particulate matter content, sulphur and carbon monoxide, too would be reduced.
According to prevalent standards the exhaust emission of a diesel bus should be less than 60 hartrizde unit while that of an Euro 2 standard bus is half that. This means a retrofitted PMT bus will see its emissions fall by 50 per cent.
‘‘This grant represents the commitment of the United States Government to work with India to introduce new technologies that will result in cleaner fuel and reduced emissions,’’ Kress said in a press release.
The long-term objective of the diesel retrofit project is to try and replicate the Pune experience in other Indian cities.
The PMC, has been working along with NEERI, Central Institute for Road Transport and Automotive Research Association of India for reducing air pollution in the city for some time. The retrofit effort, coming as it does soon after PMT’s bio-diesel initiative, seems set to change the image of Pune as the thirteenth most polluted city in the country.
