VARANASI: The Varanasi district administration has decided not to extend the deadline of replacing old pollution-causing diesel engines in boats playing in the Ganga by CNG-fuelled engines though the conversion work has been hampered by Covid-19 lockdown.
“We have decided to replace old diesel engines by CNG engines in over 200 boats every month to achieve the target of converting an estimated number of 1,300 boats by Dev Deepawali falling on November 19,” divisional commissioner Deepak Agrawal told TOI on Saturday.
“So far, conversion of only 92 of the initially estimated 1,300 boats has been possible.
The work on this project had been formally started in February end.
However, the progress in the project was badly hampered with the arrival of the second wave of Covid that led to another lockdown.
Though the work could not be done with desired pace, 92 boats have been covered and their diesel engines replaced by CNG,” he elaborated.
The project has been undertaken for making the environment clean, especially for the people coming to Varanasi for pilgrimage and tourism and enjoy boat rides in the Ganga.
As most of the boats are being operated with diesel engines, apart from air pollution, noise pollution also makes a boat ride for visitors bitter.
“The project had been initiated in June 2020, but the major hurdle of funding was cleared in January when the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) sanctioned Rs 21 crore from its corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund for the replacement of diesel engines in boats with CNG-fuelled engines,” the commissioner aid.
He added, “Later, Metallurgical & Engineering Consultants (MECON) Limited, a public sector undertaking under the Union ministry of steel, was roped in to execute this project.” “Apart from the replacement of diesel engines, many other components had also been proposed.
Under the project, boatmen are being made stakeholders.
CNG engines are being installed in small, medium and large capacities and average cost of engine is around Rs 1 lakh,” the commissioner said, adding, “10% of the money is charged from boatmen as a token amount.” “With the installation of CNG engines in the boats, old diesel engines are being disposed of completely to ensure that they are not misused in future by installing in other boats and introducing them in Ganga again,” further informed TOI.
Agrawal said GAIL has already operationalised its CNG station near Khidkiyaghat where CNG boats are getting refuelled through the dispensers installed on a jetty floating in the Ganga.