India, Nov. 1 -- The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has directed all bakery and restaurant owners in the city to switch to cleaner fuels in a bid to curb rising air pollution.

Ravi Pawar, head of the PMC environment department, held a meeting with representatives of restaurants and bakeries on Friday and urged them to discontinue the use of traditional fuels such as coal and wood for tandoors.

"Instead of using coal or wood, establishments should switch to LPG, PNG, or other green fuels," Pawar said, warning that action would be taken against those continuing to use polluting fuels.

There are around 1,000 bakeries operating in the city, with 750 of them in the city, while the remaining are in the suburbs. Bakery owners said they are ...