GURGAON: While the state government appears to be waiting for the completion of the Rs 1,830-crore Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway to lower the pollution levels in the city, IT firms are doing whatever they can to contain the increasing environment hazard caused by the polluting vehicles. 

Though it will take a lot of time before thousands of cabs that ferry IT-BPO employees which currently run on diesel are converted to CNG, several firms are now encouraging their employees who travel by cars to install CNG kits in them. More emphasis is being laid on the employees to go for battery-operated cars that are non-pollutant. 

Apart from monetary incentives the ones who are converting their cars to CNG get a lot more. Not only are they treated like a king; they are also given preferred parking spaces at the office complexes. In a city like Gurgaon where parking remains a major worry and one has to shell out huge money to park, these incentives are getting popular are among staffers. 

It is very important to sustain our environment and ensure that our vehicles dont add to the pollution. While car-pooling is gaining popularity, we are also asking our employees to switch over to CNG. Parking space is guaranteed in our office basement for those employees who have CNG cars. We are also encouraging our employees to use the humble cycle rickshaw. Several expats are using it too, said Karandeep Singh, MD, Sapient India. 

SAP Labs, which too has an office in Gurgaon, has started a car lease programme for its employees. We are encouraging our employees to buy battery-operated cars like Reva. We provide special benefits and privileges to our employees who have these non-polluting cars like providing them a special and designated parking space in the office with a provision to recharge their cars, said Bhuvaneswar Naik, vice president, SAP Labs India. 

After meandering through traffic the employee doesnt have to bother about parking space for the car since it is guaranteed. We also offer them monetary benefits through which we give fuel allowance to those employees who have battery-operated cars. This allowance at least takes care of the EMI. We also have cycling clubs in our office, Naik added. 

The Supreme Court appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) already wants to ban BPO cabs in the NCR since they run on diesel.