PESHAWAR, May 20: The Environment Protection Agency (EPA), NWFP, has planned installation of CNG kits in two-stroke rickshaws on experimental basis with the objective of controlling air and noise pollution.

The project to install kits in rickshaws on experimental basis was launched during the current year with a total cost of Rs0.7 million, said Director of EPA, Dr Muhammad Bashir.

"Our aim is to check CNG kit for installation in two-stroke rickshaws which are the major source of noise and air pollution in the city," Dr Bashir added. There were around 12,000 rickshaws in Peshawar, and the majority of them were two-strokes which could not be converted into CNG, he disclosed.

However, he added, some companies had approached the EPA, claiming that they had prepared special CNG kits for the two-stroke engines. Before launching the project a kit was examined by EPA experts who found it suitable.

Under the project, he said, 20 rickshaws would be installed with CNG kits free of cost. Later, he continued, these 20 tri-wheelers would be kept under observation for three months during which data would be collected on fuel consumption, engine performance etc. If the experiment succeeded, a policy would be laid down for conversion of all the two-stroke rickshaws to CNG. -APP