Death by Breath: Metro helps but

The Indian Express , Thursday, April 09, 2015
Correspondent : Pritha Chatterjee , Sumegha Gulati
In the seven years that Delhi frittered away the gains of the CNG order, the one major public transport intervention has been the Metro which, as it goes to newer areas in the National Capital Region (NCR), has helped reduce pollution levels by taking nearly 4 lakh vehicles off the roads, cut annual fuel consumption by 2.76 lakh tonne and reduced pollutants by 5.8 lakh tonne a year.

Yet this has not been good enough.

Because the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will account for less than 15 per cent of commuter trips in the capital when phase III of its expansion is complete, thenetwork covering 330 km. Issues of last-mile connectivity, of poor feeder bus services still remain and, as one survey shows, “the number of trips shifting from cars and two-wheelers to Metro is only 20-25 per cent”.

DMRC chief Mangu Singh says the responsibility of air quality cannot be “the sole responsibility of the Metro” and the DMRC has made several attempts, during construction and operation, to ensure minimal impact on environment.

“The Metro cannot do anything without supportfrom other agencies. The city’s entire transportsystem and its impact on air pollution cannot depend only on the Metro. What you see is in spite of the Metro. Imagine the situation had the Metro not been there”, Singh told The Indian Express.

An assessment of the DMRC by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) found thatMetro phases I and II, completed in 2006 and 2010 respectively, took off the roads 16,895 vehicles in 2007; 1,17,249 vehicles in 2011; and, 3,90,971 in 2014.

The corresponding annual reduction in fuel consumption was 24,691 tonne, 1,06,493 tonne and 2,76,000 tonne, saving time per trip by 31 minutes, 28 minutes and 32 minutes respectively. The annual reduction in pollutants was 31,520 tonne, 1,79,613 tonne and 5,77,148 tonne respectively.

In 2014 alone, the cost of time saved was assessed at Rs 4107 crore, cost of fuel savings Rs 1,972 crore, savings in cost and operation of vehicles Rs 2,617 crore, and cost of pollution saved Rs 489 crore.

“Since 2007, we have gained 2,20,591 CERs (certified emission reductions) of carbon credits, which means an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide has been saved from being emitted in the atmosphere. From 2004-07, taking our gains during construction into account, 3,10,595 tonne of CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions have been avoided based on our regenerative braking system

 
SOURCE : http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/death-by-breath-metro-helps-but/
 


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