[sustran] Re: fwd: Campaign for ban on diesel cars

[ganant]

At the heart of the issue that CSE is rightly championing is the pricing of fuel in India. Apart from a highly stretched network of buses which provide access to mobility, the economy of the country has become intertwined with diesel - the entire commercial road transport industry revolves around this fuel, which is priced less than half the petrol price.

The automobile industry naturally wants to ride this pricing mechanism to profits, and in a recession hit economy, Governments are unfortunately not likely to do anything that will dampen car sales (it should be borne in mind that the auto industry would try to defend itself, citing the higher taxes levied on diesel driven cars).

The campaign should therefore focus as much on the perversity of people driving luxury cars in a poor country, using diesel which is sold cheap by the Government essentially for commerce and public mobility.  Shocking as it may seem, many people who can afford diesel Mercedes Benz, Ford, Fiat and the entire stable of Tata cars and MPVs, often leave their engines on for long periods even when waiting in parking lots, to keep the air-conditioning on. This is possible because diesel is cheap. 

Lending a farcical touch, when Tatas introduced their Sumo 10 seater model, it was touted as a  semi-urban vehicle which would provide much needed transport access to those who were on the fringes of urban India.  But it has turned out to be the symbol of the political elite, carrying even Chief Ministers of States with hangers on in tow. One former Chief Minister, Mr.Laloo Yadav, said Members of Parliament were demanding this particular vehicle as a quid pro quo to cast favourable votes on confidence motions in Parliament.  Municipal Corporators consider that when they have a Sumo, they are making a statement about their worth. 

I narrate this to show how much those deprived of access to mobility in India, are actually subsidising the personal travel of the rich and famous, all thanks to diesel. 

Concerns about pollution are poorly understood in India, as the primary goal is to generate jobs and ensure economic growth.  This would of course extract hidden costs in the big cities.   

The campaign against use of diesel is a subset of the overall campaign against unsustainable trends in commuting. Apart from the focus on pollution, which is undoubtedly a major one, if  attention is also given to the lopsided way road use is priced in India (the rich have right of way with cars, the less affluent are forced to come up with intermediate solutions because mass transit is grossly underdeveloped) there will be strong public opinion against the USE of cars, which will address pollution, road safety, mobility and allied concerns. 

G.Ananthakrishnan
journalist
Chennai India 
    -----Original Message-----
    From: SUSTRAN Resource Centre <sustran at po.jaring.my>
    To: sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org <sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org>; alt-transp at flora.org <alt-transp at flora.org>
    Cc: SANDHYA at cseindia.org <SANDHYA at cseindia.org>
    Date: Tuesday, July 13, 1999 12:17 PM
    Subject: [sustran] fwd: Campaign for ban on diesel cars
    
    
    Dear Mr Paul,
    
    We need your help to stop the global auto majors from flooding the Indian market with diesel cars which are notorious for extremely toxic emissions, especially particulate emissions. Delhi is already recording 10,000 deaths a year – one death an hour – because of particulate pollution. Yet all automobile giants – Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Mercedes Benz -- are pushing diesel cars in India. 
    
    With the opening up of the Indian economy in the 1990s, we had hoped that the trans-national companies which have a capacity to produce better and cleaner technology would help us clean the air. On the contrary, they are all set to invade the Indian market with polluting diesel cars to cash in on cheap diesel prices in India. They are ignoring scientific evidence gathered in their own countries on the toxic effects of diesel particulates and the limitation of existing diesel technology to control these deadly particles. 
    
    Not only are these companies spreading disinformation that diesel engines are clean, they are claiming that they do not wish to deprive the Indian consumer of his “right to choice”. Unfortunately, the uninformed public in India does not realise that this is a choice between life and death. 
    
    We have reasons to be deeply concerned about the increasing use of diesel as a fuel for luxury cars. 
    Unlike the cities in the West, Indian cities like Delhi are reeling under serious particulate emissions. The annual average level of the total suspended particulate matter in Delhi has consistently remained three to five times higher than the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards. The levels of PM10 (inhalable particles) reach 8-9 times the standards in Delhi that is, disastrous levels of over 500 micrograms per cubic metre. This is where WHO has concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to particulate pollution.
    
    
    According to a World Bank study, conducted for the year 1991-92, particulate pollution was responsible for 40,000 premature deaths every year. The same study when repeated by the Centre for Science and Environment for the year 1995 showed an increase in the death rate by about 28 per cent in just three years. One person dies every hour due to air pollution in Delhi.
    
    
    World wide, studies have shown that diesel particles are extremely tiny, go deep into the lungs and are rich in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which are highly carcinogenic. The Scientific Review Panel of the California Air Resources Board designated diesel particulates as a ‘Toxic Air Contaminant’ (TAC) on August 27, 1998. Thus, diesel has the potential to cause serious health damage and should be controlled.
    
    
    Indian citizens are spending an estimated Rs 4,550 crore each year to make up for the health damages caused only by air pollution. A developing country can ill-afford such costs and there is need to control the factors that add to this burden on the economy and public health.
    
    
    Yet the auto majors are investing heavily in India to produce diesel cars on a plea that the number of diesel cars is actually increasing in other countries as these are fuel efficient and are being actively promoted to control global warming. 
    
    You would agree with us that urban smog is a serious environment and public health problem and we must not allow the industry to confuse the strategies to deal with global warming with that of smog abatement measures. 
    
    You will be surprised to know that private diesel cars in the capital city of Delhi are poised to take off at a time when the Government of Delhi is under the directive of the Supreme Court of India to run all public buses on CNG by March 31, 2001 -- a measure that will greatly reduce particulate pollution. 
    
    While it is true that the Indian government has overlooked the folly of allowing private diesel cars, is it morally correct for companies to take advantage of the flawed policies in newly emerging economies and dump polluting technologies to make a fast buck? By flooding the Indian market with diesel-powered cars, the industry is shrugging off its social responsibility. 
    
    We are aware of the civil society movements in other countries that have achieved success in restricting the use of diesel. One such movement on the eastern coast of the United States, the “Dump Dirty Diesel” campaign by a coalition of health, environment, transportation and public interest groups, has forced the New York City to start replacing its diesel-powered buses with models run on cleaner fuels, including natural gas. Delhi could do well with a similar movement to restrict use of diesel in private vehicles. 
    
    Down to Earth has just carried an article built on interviews with CEOs of foreign car manufacturers in India. It shows that none of them want to address the problem of particulate pollution. They only want to disinform – “who says diesel is bad” – or confuse – “but petrol also produces particles” or “but Europe is going in for diesel cars, so why not India, etc. You can access the article on CSE’s website www.cseindia.org.
    
    CSE has also produced a monograph on the health effects of diesel which also can be accessed on CSE’s website.
    
    We are keen to intensify our campaign against diesel and seek your support to put pressure on companies from your country to shoulder their social responsibilities. 
    Please tell us how you can launch a campaign against these companies or help us in our campaign. 
    
    Can you help us to reach out to a large number of people and other environmental networks in your country to build up a coalition?
    
    
    We would sincerely appreciate your help in countering the move of the transnational companies and help save many more Indians from dying. 
    
    Waiting to hear from you soon.
    With regards,
    Sandhya
    Networking Associate,
    CSE's Right to Clean Air Campaign 
    
    
    
    
    
    
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/sustran-discuss/attachments/19990713/92a62a93/attachment.htm