This is with respect to the recent news in the publications regarding the introduction of the Euro Emission Standards by the government. The fact is that this new policy of the government is not being fully implemented in the country mainly due to the unavailability of Euro II-compliant fuel in the market. The auto manufacturers are already adopting Euro II standards in all locally produced models. But, what about the commercial vehicles that constitute a huge part of the overall traffic?
The commercial vehicles are still not Euro II-compliant because they run on diesel, and the Euro II-compliant diesel is currently not available in the local market. The reason behind this is that oil refineries in the country are not equipped to produce refined diesel. This obviously means that the produced diesel does not meet the Euro II standard. Even though the auto makers may have put catalytic converters in passenger cars, yet the commercial vehicles are still emitting harmful substances, which are polluting the environment.
In order to protect the environment from harmful exhaust emissions, the government needs to pay attention towards the availability of Euro II-compliant diesel in the local market. For that, the oil refineries need to be re-visited and outfitted with necessary equipment to produce Euro II Diesel, so that commercial vehicles are also compliant with Euro II standards.
ALAMGIR KHAN
Karachi
