'54 cities to have clean fuel by end of 12th 5-yr plan'

"Once you use that fuel in all the vehicles, it means there is no air pollution. Clean fuel will not have sulphur and other such pollutants. It is the easiest way of getting rid of air pollution. You cannot clean air otherwise.

"So, 54 cities in the country will have clean fuel, both petrol and diesel, by the end of the 12th Five Year Plan," Chatterjee told reporters here.

He was speaking at the inauguration of a summit of city governments at the ongoing UN Convention on biological diversity here.

He suggested that a part of the road tax should go to the municipalities as a pollution disincentive, though the matter is for the legislatures to decide.

"There is no fixed formula at all for green belt. If you follow the national targets, it should be one third. India's coverage is 24 per cent now. May be the same thing should be there for every city. But that is not enough. It should be there," he said on the green cover in cities.

Chatterjee also said the cities in the country should prepare a biodiversity index, as done by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), to know their status of biological diversity.

Earlier, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy inaugurated the summit which was attended by Mayors and other delegates from various cities world over.

Highlighting the efforts of Andhra Pradesh government towards biological diversity conservation, Reddy said five places, including Tirumala Tirupati hills, will be promoted as centres of biodiversity. (MORE)