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We do not know which way to go

 We do not know which way to go What is the Delhi government's plan of action?
The plan of action is very simple. To order as many [CNG] buses as possible, as are being manufactured. To try and persuade the government of India to try and give us as much as possible. I do not want chaos on the streets. We are all for reducing pollution but it is this war between CNG and anti-CNG lobbies which has landed us in a kind of a spot. We do not know which way to go.

Is the crisis on Delhi roads a result of the Delhi government's laxity?
We have done the best we could. We have booked as many buses that we have on diesel. Retrofitting and conversion are still not known technology. When people are expected to pay Rs three to four lakh for this and buy a new bus for Rs 17 lakh then you cannot expect people to shell out that kind of money. People cannot be expected to spend money on a technology which is not known.

Isn't CNG conversion a tested technology?
No, even the new buses are flopping here because they are not able to carry the burden and they are not able to withstand the heat. But I hope they will survive the heat this summer. We need time. It is nation's money and it is the safety of the people. It is not a whim and not a fancy.

Is CNG cleaner than petrol and diesel? Is there any need to move towards gaseous fuels?
No I do not believe that. I am told by many scientists that CNG may be clean in particulate matter but emits other pollutants. There is still a controversy and a debate going on about CNG and we as a responsible government want pollution to be eliminated. But we also have to answer to the people and the money that they are made to spend. I have set aside about Rs 300 crore to buy the buses. I am also doubtful about the safety of these buses.

But literature surveys show there are more than one million CNG vehicles across the world.
It is really funny. You tell me one million. Other literature survey says 500. Others 1,000. I do not know what is the truth. I have recently heard that Houston ordered many CNG buses and rolled back their decision. We know that there are some technologies which are tried and tested and we know that this is an emerging technology like fuel cells, electric buses and CNG. CNG is not a tried and tested technology.

Can Indian refineries produce ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD, with 0.001 per cent sulphur)?
I do not know. But it should be made and can be made available for the entire country. But CNG supply and dispensation is not good enough and even then it will be restricted to Delhi. You can see the lines in front of the stations. This, when only some vehicles have converted. When the full thing happens then there will be chaos. Today, it is feared that if a spark were to go off then the buses would blow up? What if this happens to a school bus? Just yesterday, in Khanpur, a CNG bus had to be offloaded as it would not move with so many people inside. So we should not be so passionate about CNG without actually testing it thoroughly.

What would be your course of action?
I will tell the court that I will not be able to fulfil the deadline by September 30, 2001. I am not prepared and I would not want to be rapped every time. I will file an affidavit asking for more time and also to look at alternatives to CNG.

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