Bengal wants to ply gas-driven taxis, autos: Minister

West Bengal environment minister Sovan Chatterjee today said that to minimise air pollution, the government intended to run taxis and autos on gas in near future.
Speaking at an event of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board on the occasion of the World Environment Day, the minister pointed out that already in Durgapur city vehicles running on gas were plying.
"There are gas-driven buses already plying in Durgapur and the environment department are planning to introduce autos and taxis using gas as fuel in collaboration with GAIL in Kolkata in future," Chatterjee said.
Chatterjee says that the government has earmarked 20 acres of land near Rajarhat, the satellite township, for a solid waste management project for which the ADB has already given a grant.

On preseving the eco-system, he said that some high- mast lamps in pockets adjoining some gardens in the city were swtiched off after finding that the brightness was disturbing the birds at night.
About filling of water bodies, he said, "If there are civic records of a pond existing at a plot of land, which is corroborated by previous land department and local body records, a pond of the same size needed to be dig up somewhere nearby and no political interference, if any, will be tolerated."
"The Environment department as a nodal agency will work with others in sync on these issues," Chatterjee said.