New Delhi: The air quality in the national
capital is set to improve soon with introduction of cleaner
and greener ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) from April one.
The introduction of the fuel, in which sulphur content is
just one-seventh of the diesel currently being sold, will also
earn Delhi the distinction of becoming the first Indian city
to catch up with fuel quality in Europe where ULSD was
introduced a couple of years back.
The sulphur content in the diesel currently being used is
350 parts per million (ppm) while it will be 50 ppm in ULSD.
"We are confident that with introduction of ULSD, the air
quality in the city will improve significantly," Environment
Secretary of Delhi Government Dharmendra told PTI.
Currently, Delhi has over 60,000 diesel vehicles,
considered a major source of vehicular pollution in the city.
Dharmendra said all the oil companies supplying diesel in
the city have agreed to supply ULSD in Delhi from April one
following the government's directives.
Asked how the government would monitor compliance of use
of ULSD by diesel vehicles, he said all the filling stations
will only have ULSD available with them and use of diesel
having 350 ppm sulphur will not be possible.
According to a study by Centre for Science and
Environment, Delhi adds over 1,000 new personal vehicles each
day on its roads and a considerable number of these vehicles
run on diesel.
High levels of Sulphur dioxide in air results in various
types of lung diseases and impaired pulmonary function.
On April one, Delhi will also become one of the 13 cities
in the country to introduce Bharat Stage-IV emission
compliance for vehicles.
As per the Auto Fuel Policy, the 13 mega cities, which
have Bharat Stage III emission regulations, will meet Bharat
Stage IV standards from April 2010 and the rest of the country
will upgrade to Bharat Stage III regulations.
To discourage people from using diesel vehicles, the
city government has introduced an environment cess of 25 paise
per litre on diesel two years back. The fund generated through
it is used for various measures to improve air quality in the
city.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 17:37