Truckers keen to cut emissions

Co ordination Committee of All Bengal Truck Operators Association has formed a committee to work out a strategy to bring down pollution caused by heavy vehicles.

The general secretary of the association, Amitabh Mitra, said truck operators were keen to limit pollution caused by heavy vehicles like trucks and buses.

The association held a workshop on pollution in the city on Thursday, where West Bengal's transport minister Subhas Chakravarty blamed engine manufacturers and fuel companies for high level of auto emission in the city.

"The main culprits are poor quality of fuel and engines," Chakravarty said.

However, the director of the Centre for Environment and Development, A K Ghosh, rejected this viewpoint outright on the basis of scientific data. Indian fuel quality Ghosh blamed poor vehicle maintenance and roads and overloading.

Ghosh said coal-fired power plants around Kolkata were major polluters.