'Better fuel, stricter norms needed to curb air pollution'

There is an urgent need to improve fuel quality and implement stricter norms to check vehicular emissions and poor air quality in Indian cities, renowned environmentalist R.K. Pachauri said here Monday.

"The unconstrained growth of motor vehicles in recent years has become a major source of pollution, which not only affects air quality adversely wherever vehicles ply, but also adds to emissions of greenhouse gases at the global level," said Pachauri, director general, The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI).

He was speaking at a workshop on "Reducing Vehicular Emissions and Improving Fuel Efficiency".

He said the government has not focused much on adopting new technologies to improve fuel efficiency and is also yet to make stringent norms to curb vehicular pollution.

"The government needs to emphasize on the research work and analysis on such issues so that the impact of the poor fuel quality and the pollution emitted by it can be known," Pachauri said.

"There is a need for India to adopt advanced technology for motor vehicles so that the dependency on oil can be reduced," Pachauri told IANS.

Transport sector at present accounts for 17 percent of the total energy after the industry sector.

Pachauri said the exponential growth in vehicles in India is leading to an increase in pollutants which have an adverse impact on human health, especially on the vulnerable who are most exposed to vehicular pollution.

It also perpetuates our dependence on oil imports, raising concerns about our energy security.

"We cannot become a modern automobile nation merely by producing a variety of modern vehicles. We need to ensure that our vehicles conform to the prescribed emission standards and are fuel efficient," he said.

"There is also a need for the other stakeholders in the society to come ahead and collectively take part in reducing the vehicular emission as 'self regulation' is very important," he added.