Dilip Biswas, chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), says: ``Once the outlets are functional, it will be much easier for public and private vehicles to shift to CNG. If private bus operators are made to function under the condition that their vehicles can only be run on CNG, it will help matters considerably.''

The decision to open the additional outlets was reached after the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) crossed the biggest hurdle of resolving land ownership. Now, the Gas Authority of India Limited has also said that it would be able to provide enough CNG to feed all the 78 sites.

Though CNG-run buses are expected to be imported initially, Indian companies like Ashok Leyland and TELCO also have the requisite technology to manufacture these.

The specifications and orders for the buses were decided upon a long time ago. A white paper prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Forests set December 31, 1998, as the deadline for introducing CNG-run buses in the city following a Supreme Court order on the same. The scheme, however, did not materialise because of the suspect availability of the fuel. Though the initial investment on CNG-run buses is higher, the cost can be recovered very quickly as the price of this fuel is one third that of petrol.

Presently, vehicles need a Rs 20,000 convertor to switch to CNG. By June next year, cars with engines which can run on CNG will be available in Delhi. Though bi-fuel engines are presently available for commercial cars and buses, their owners are reluctant to use these because of the low profit margin.

Vehicular pollution makes up nearly 65 per cent of the total pollution in Delhi. The use of CNG-run vehicles would reduce this considerably as dangerous gases like carbon monoxide benzene would no longer be spewed into the air.