'Mitigation Strategies Needed to Overcome Pollution Caused in Transportation'

India is the largest truck manufacturing country, the second largest bus manufacturer, third largest heavy truck manufacturer, and fifth largest passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle manufacturer. The country has only 20 vehicles per thousand people – much lower than several developed countries – but pollution generated by the industry is today a major issue, and mitigation strate-gies are urgently required. The country needs technologies, policies and solutions that will empower the transportation sector, but at the same time protect the citizens from air pollution.

These observations were made by Mrs. Rashmi Urdhwareshe, Director, Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Pune, while speaking at the CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL), Pune National Technology Day celebrations on May 11, 2018.

Mrs. Urdhwareshe shared some ideas in this regard that included:

The development and promotion of public transportation to avoid the use of personal vehicles;

Restricting the entry of pollution-causing vehicles in the city by using intelligent traffic management systems;

Periodic technical inspections of vehicles;

Use of CNG for new public transports;

Use of biofuels; and

Enhancing driver skills.

Fuel efficiency & safety improvements

Mrs. Urdhwareshe talked about different vehicle technologies, focusing on fuel efficiency improvement through powertrain engineering. She informed about the possible alternate fuels that can be used in vehicles for the transportation, and the efforts made for smart structure technologies, electric motors and battery developments.

She added that India has committed in the ‘Global Conference on Traffic Safety’ in Brazil to reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities by 50% by 2020 through improved safety, efficiency and sustainability in the transport sector. “We should come together to encourage the use of current safety equipment for the passive and active safety.”

Following the lecture, a meeting was held to discuss the mutual research interests of ARAI and CSIR-NCL. The agenda of the meeting was to identify key areas where the unique expertise of ARAI and CSIR-NCL can be integrated to develop collaborative research programmes.

Mrs. Rashmi Urdhwareshe