Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi has taken a highly commendable initiative to rid major cities of the province of air pollution. On Wednesday, he launched his Green Programme under which all smoke-emitting vehicles are to be phased out. Rickshaws being a big source of air pollution in urban Punjab, for now the government is focussing on replacing the two-stroke motor cycle rickshaws plying on the roads of Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Multan with CNG-fitted four-stroke vehicles that are being manufactured by three different companies. The government has already banned the registration of two-stroke motor cycle rickshaws.
The Chief Minister averred at the launch of his Green Programme that no such rickshaw would be allowed in the big cities after three years. However, in a decision that makes little sense the banned rickshaws are to be moved to smaller cities. Apparently, those behind the decision view these vehicles as more of an aesthetic problem than a health hazard. They need to understand that the only reason people demand the removal of these smoke and noise-emitting vehicles from roads is the danger that their deadly emissions pose to human health.
This danger is not going to go away if these vehicles start running on the roads of smaller cities. If they are unacceptable in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gurjanwala and Multan so should they be in Bahawalpur, Sahiwal or other small town.
The government has given ample time, three years, to rickshaw owners for the changeover. It should be sufficient for them to prepare themselves for the new situation. Considering that sometime ago, a single court order in Delhi had brought all the public transport to a sudden halt, asking the owners to acquire CNG fittings, this is a very generous timeframe. Besides, the government has offered rickshaw owners attractive incentives for the changeover, which is why, unlike the past they are not raising any voices of protest against the new anti-pollution scheme.
Though the four-stroke rickshaws are to cost more than the existing ones - Rs 115,000 to Rs 125,000 apiece as against the two-stroke vehicle prices of Rs 60,000 to Rs 85,000 - they will be made available on easy terms. Under an agreement to be signed by the provincial government and the Bank of Punjab, which is to become effective towards the middle of the next month, applicants will be required to deposit only Rs 28,000 for the purchase from their own pockets and get interest-free loans to pay the rest of the price.
The government will earmark Rs 1 billion in the next budget to subsidise the scheme by paying for the bank service charges. In the next phase of the Green Programme, 4000 CNG-fitted buses are to be brought out on the roads, while the problem of air and noise pollution caused by passenger wagons is also to be addressed.
In yet another important step towards reducing air pollution, the provincial government has decided to put in place roadworthiness testing stations, to be run with the help of the private sector, for all vehicles. Overall, it is an impressive plan towards a cleaner environment. One hopes the other provinces will also emulate the example of Punjab in drawing up their own cleaner environment programmes.
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