Islamabad (Thomson Archyde.com Foundation) – Raja Kamran, a 50-year-old worker in Pakistan’s financial capital Karachi, used to commute by motorcycle but switched to electric buses when they were introduced. It saves me money and helps me avoid breathing some of the city’s polluted air.
In January, Karachi launched a small but fully electric bus service. It’s part of a government effort to reduce the worsening air pollution caused by cars, factories, power plants, brick kilns and garbage incineration.
“Electric buses not only save us money on our weekly trips, but they are also good for our health,” Kamran, a journalist, told reporters by phone. He said he suffered from back pain while commuting by motorcycle.
However, Kamran says there are not enough electric buses. Only 10 of the 50 vehicles to be introduced for the first time are currently running. You may have to wait up to 45 minutes to get on.
IQAir, a Swiss company that specializes in pollution control technology, says urban air pollution has long been a major problem across Pakistan. In the 2021 global air quality rankings, Pakistan ranks third from the bottom among all 118 countries and territories.
Air pollution is the leading cause of death in Pakistan, with a population of approximately 224 million, with an estimated 230,000 deaths in 2019 due to air pollution, according to the latest Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. 6,000 people are estimated to have died before their average life expectancy.
Concerns about the increasing number of vehicles on the road are also growing. In 2011, 9.6 million vehicles were registered in Pakistan, but by 2020, the number will grow to 30.7 million. Cities such as Peshawar and Karachi have announced plans to promote greener modes of transport.
The 50 e-buses to be introduced in Karachi will have a capacity of at least 70 passengers and a range of 240 kilometers on a single charge.
The installation cost of $15 million was raised through a public-private partnership (PPP). The transport operator will buy the buses and operate them for eight years, after which the state government of Sindh, where Karachi belongs to, will take over ownership.
The Sindh government is currently negotiating with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a loan of about $30 million to purchase the additional 100 buses, said Abdul Khaleem Sheikh, Sindh’s secretary of transport and public transport. It is said that
“We want to provide clean, comfortable, and luxurious buses for our residents, run by trained staff, so that people will be encouraged to refrain from using polluting cars and motorcycles,” he said. the chief says.
But experts on environmental and urban issues fear that a small number of electric buses won’t make much of a difference and are calling for broader and more meaningful transport reforms.
Over the past few years, Pakistan has been hit by a flurry of weather disasters, from extreme heat to wildfires. Recovery from the unprecedented flood in 2022 is still on the way.
The country’s climate change ministry still says air pollution remains one of the country’s major environmental problems. Automobiles emit at least 40% of air pollutants.
In November 2019, the government set a goal of introducing a total of 500,000 electric motorcycles and rickshaws, as well as more than 100,000 electric cars, electric buses and electric trucks into the transportation system within five years. It is not known how many are actually running at this time.
Pakistan has set a long-term goal of electrifying one-third of all cars and trucks sold and half of all motorcycles and buses by 2030. Overall, it has pledged to step up efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
In the northwestern city of Peshawar, the state government is retiring older buses and replacing them with diesel-electric hybrid models as part of a new public transport system.
In Karachi, apart from the introduction of 50 electric buses, the state government is developing a transportation network with 250 vehicles fueled by bio-methanol produced from water buffalo dung.
However, some analysts have criticized the old and new bus reforms in Karachi for not doing enough to curb pollution.
Muhammad Thheed, deputy director of the Urban Institute of the Karachi University of Management Studies, argues that the total number of cars and motorcycles on the road should be reduced and more focus should be placed on educating the public about the effects of air pollution.
“Commuters who use exhaust-smelling cars or motorcycles to get to work don’t realize how much they’re hurting the environment,” said Theed.
Yasir Husain of environmental consultancy Dariya Labs said Karachi would need at least 1,500 e-buses, not 150, to be effective in tackling emissions problems.
“The government should also offer long-term low-interest loans to encourage the use of electric motorcycles and rickshaws,” said Husain, who is also the founder of the Green Pakistan Alliance, an advocacy group.
Sindh Transport and Public Transport Secretary Shaikh acknowledged that the introduction of 150 new electric buses alone would not have much of an impact on curbing air pollution, but also pointed out the introduction of bio-methanol vehicles. He emphasized that there are 29 conventional bus routes in the city.
Sheikh said that despite the financial burden of Pakistan’s current economic crisis and floods in 2022, the funding will come from international financial institutions, which will not prevent the expansion of electric buses. showed the outlook.
Entrepreneur Bhuhesh Kumar, 24, is riding a new electric bus to meet people at work, but the current limited number of buses are effective in purifying Karachi’s suffocating air. It is questionable whether there is
“We need more and more electric buses in the city’s transport system so that people don’t burn fuel in their own cars,” Kumar said.
(Reporter Imran Mukhtar Translated by Eaklelen)