100% electric buses planned for Delhi to cut emissions: Bhupender Yadav

Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday said the Centre was pursuing an “airshed” approach to tackle NCR pollution through coordinated action across Delhi and neighbouring districts, and urged public participation to cut emissions, control dust and expand green cover.

- ANJALI SINGH

Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav with NewsX Managing Editor Rishabh Gulati.

Speaking at Day 1 of the two-day ‘India News Manch’ event in New Delhi, Yadav said the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had provided a unified command structure to implement measures across the wider NCR airshed, allowing directions to be enforced not just in Delhi but also in areas such as Ghaziabad, Noida and Bhiwadi.

Listing key contributors to pollution, he said vehicle emissions were a major source in Delhi and pointed to cleaner fuel norms and the shift to BS6 standards as a “qualitative” improvement. He also referred to the introduction of around 3,000 electric buses in Delhi and said the plan was to move towards 100% electric buses by next year.