The combination of stricter tailpipe emission norms, to be introduced from October 1, and mandatory Euro II for new vehicles is not going to help the lungs of the city. That’s what Sunita Narain, director of Centre for Science and Environment and one of the spearheads of Delhi’s air clean-up drive, has told environment minister Manab Mukherjee.

“We are aware that Euro II won’t be a permanent solution, but at least it’s a step in the right direction,” says Mukherjee. On tailpipe emission norms, he agrees that a fuel shift must be the aim.

Narain, in town for a British Council workshop for environmental journalists, says: “The major vehicular pollution-related problems of Calcutta are respirable particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. These cannot be monitored with the new emission standards.”

Adds Narain: “Improving the environment through monitoring has proved a distant dream, especially with our limited infrastructure. And unlike Delhi, Calcutta’s major problem is diesel vehicles, which will not improve with the new regulations.”

The proposed tailpipe norms have provisions for stricter emission standards for petrol vehicles, while the standards for diesel vehicles — a bulk of which comprises the buses and taxis in the city — will remain unchanged.

“The Euro II standards cannot be of much help as the emission of nitrogen oxides, a major concern for city air, is almost the same as the pre-Euro II status,” explains the environmentalist.

State environment department officials agree with Narain’s assessment. “When the Supreme Court identified Calcutta as one of the most polluting cities of the country, with a pollution status either equivalent to or more than Delhi, it clearly asked the state to target two pollutants, respirable suspended particulate matter and nitrogen oxides,” explain officials. “Even the strictest application of the new norms are not going to help much.”

“The solution is either to go for a Euro IV kind of standard or, more realistically, to opt for an alternate fuel, which can be liquefied petroleum gas or even coal-bed methane, as the Gas Authority of India Limited experts pointed out,” suggests Narain.

“As a long-term strategy, the government should try to reduce the number of private vehicles by upgrading the public transit system, especially environment-friendly options like the Metro and trams,” adds the activist.

The four-day British Council course, The Green Dream, that started on Thursday, has 30 participants, including journalists and environmental activists. Tony Juniper from Friends of the Earth International and Anthony Browne of The Times, London, are the course leaders.