20 Jul 11: In order to curb emission levels of the city buses, APSRTC has made plans to procure buses which run on CNG and bio-fuel. But due to the lack of supply of these alternative and eco-friendly fuels, these buses are confined to garages.
APSRTC has procured 150 CNG buses spending about Rs.20 lakhs and was planning to procure 350 more CNG buses exclusively for the greater Hyderabad zone. But due to the poor supply of CNG, the 150 procured buses have not yet made their entry on to the roads and the department is doubtful on procuring the remaining 350 buses.
The Bhagyanagar Gas Corporation limited (BGCL) was responsible for the supply of the CNG and bio-diesel. It was supposed to commence the supply from March this year, but has not yet provided any CNG till now, because of which the CNG buses are stranded in the garages since two months.
RTC has already operated 130 bio-diesel buses form the Barkatpura depot in 2008. It has also entered in to agreement with the company to procure bio-diesel at the price of Rs.32 per liter and has planned to operate 700 more buses in the city. But due to the lack of supply, the project was shelved.
The advantages of using CNG and bio-diesel are they reduce the emission levels, besides increasing the revenues. These buses are tax free and yield a profit of at least Rs.2 per kilometer when compared to the conventional buses. The bio-diesel which is amalgamation of 90 percent conventional fuel and 10 percent bio-diesel, is also very effective in controlling the pollution. Though the RTC is interested in encouraging these eco-friendly buses, lack of supply of these fuels remains a major barrier.
Source: The Hindu