NEW DELHI: Several studies have shown that motorcycles could be worst polluting vehicles after diesel trucks entering Delhi from other states, even more harmful to the environment than cars and heavy duty vehicles. But there is no strategy yet to control their emissions, and experts said it would be naive to overlook motorcycles when the city is developing its long-term air pollution control policy.
Of the 88 lakh registered vehicles in Delhi, 56 lakh are motorcycles. With such numbers, the emission-prone mechanical carburettor technology used in bikes is a big problem. They offer, of course, the cheapest transport mode with each kilometre costing Rs 1-2 compared with Rs 8-10 for a bus. "There is no other motorized mode that is as cheap, but bikes should move to fuel injection technology which is far more efficient," said Anumita Roychowdhury, who heads the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE's) clean air campaign.
The paradox with motorcycles or scooters and bikes is that despite being most space and fuel efficient, their combustion technology leads to emission volume estimated to be equivalent to that of a BS III standard car.
The less-polluting alternative is the electric bike, but its use is limited by the absence of any public charging point in Delhi. Delhi used to be top in terms of e-bike sales till a couple of years ago, but this year only 2,840 of the 22,000 national sales took place in Delhi.
Sohinder Gill, director, corporate affairs, Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicle, felt that this is probably due to the Delhi government withdrawing the 30% subsidy on e-bikes earlier this year. It did introduce a 15% subsidy later, but it wasn't enough, said Gill. "We have submitted a low cost solution to the government to install 1,000 charging pillars in Delhi, but we haven't heard from anyone," he added. A high speed e-bike costs around Rs 60,000, much more than a conventional bike or scooter that has a price tag of Rs 45,000. This makes the subsidy crucial. On a full charge, an e-bike can run for around 65 km though this efficiency is likely to reduce over time.
"India has the cleanest two wheelers," said Amit Bhatt, strategy head, integrated urban transport, Embarq. "The technologies can be improved, but it is important to reduce their numbers too." He also said that bikes are unsafe, citing the example of China where the push for e-bikes is being moderated on safety concerns. More pertinently for Delhi, Bhatt pointed out that there is enough evidence from studies done in Indian cities to show that two-wheeler users migrate to public transport if there are adequate options available.
