[sustran] Re: Emissions from Trucks in New Delhi

Sujit Patwardhan sujit at vsnl.com
Wed Jul 31 23:32:47 JST 2002


31 July 2002


Dear Sustran friends,

I entirely agree with Dinesh Mohan's (and Eric's too!!) observations.

The thrust of court judgments in Delhi and Mumbai target public vehicles 
and taxis. Not only are private vehicles largely excluded from the drive to 
reduce road congestion and air pollution but expensive infrastructure 
projects (like flyovers, expressways and multistory car parks) meant 
primarily for the benefit of private motor cars) are allowed to be 
undertaken despite public interest litigations filed by citizens' groups 
opposed to such wasteful expenditure which will not only NOT solve these 
problems, but empty the coffers of the local authority and the State 
Government.

Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC ) has recently initiated a Traffic and 
Transportation Plan that is likely to repeat these mistakes. The Terms of 
Reference published by the PMC for the traffic plan, do not include words 
like "controlling growth of private vehicles", "introducing cycle tracks", 
"improvement of public transport", "reducing pollution and accidents" and 
only pays lip service to improving pedestrian pavements. The Municipal 
Commissioner has also announced in a most radical tone the intention to 
stop registration of two stroke scooters and motorcycles and diesel driven 
auto rickshaws in order to dramatically bring down air pollution levels, 
and suggested that two stroke vehicle owners should buy four stroke 
vehicles instead. There is also a suggestion to shift public transport 
buses (less than 500 buses are on the roads on any given day while the 
total auto vehicle population is 1.2 million vehicles -- 75% of which are 
two wheelers, and this is growing at the frightening rate of 90,000 
vehicles each year and will require about 0.65 square miles of space each 
year) from diesel to CNG.

Manufacturers of two wheelers will no doubt be delighted with this news 
which will boost their sales and achieve in one stroke what would have 
required millions of rupees in advertising.

The only way to fight this is to mobilize citizens to see the connections 
between such "decisions" and their deteriorating quality of life which is 
increasingly threatened by policies of motorization at the cost of 
everything else.

--
Sujit Patwardhan
Parisar,
Pune






At 10:59 AM 7/31/2002 +0530, you wrote:
>Eric's suspicions are well placed. Such decisions are based on an 
>upper-class' concern with air not people. With mythologies, not facts and 
>numbers. With internet shopping, not the hurly burly of trade and living.
>    * Decision based on the assertion that 65,000 trucks will be barred 
> from Delhi. On the first day of enforcement they could find less than 
> 3,000 trucks to stop!
>    * Decision based on the assertion that trucks coming from out of Delhi 
> are dirtier than those plying in Delhi. A study released by CRRI 
> yesterday claims the opposite! (Should be obvious - only those trucks 
> will be used for long distance travel whose engines are in good 
> condition. Dilapidated old trucks are good for local work. Simple 
> capitalism at work.)
>    * Trucks should not enter Delhi so that the decision makers have 
> cleaner air. They don't care if the trucks pollute poorer people outside 
> the legal boundaries of Delhi.
>    * All "clean air" decisions in Delhi target public transport and 
> taxis, make them more expensive and reduce their  availability. Not a 
> single decision targets car owners.
>In the name of freedom and sustainability neo-fascist ideologies have got 
>more credibility after 9/11.
>
>Dinesh Mohan
>
>Eric Britton wrote:
>>
>>
>>Chris Zegras kindly shares with us the news: "More than 65,000 trucks and 
>>other goods vehicles will be barred from entering Delhi after the Court 
>>order is enforced. "
>>
>>
>>
>>Hmm.  Is this really good news?  Am I the only one around here who is a 
>>priori suspicious of deus ex machina solutions?  Or is this just one more 
>>example of egregious sub-optimization (the grand specialty of 
>>transportation policy all too often, I am afraid).
>>
>>
>>
>>Please someone explain to me what I am wrong (again).
>>
>>
>>
>>Eric Britton
>>
>>
>>
>>PS. Take a vacation and put your weight on what is without a doubt the 
>>right side.  Pop into 
>><http://ngroups.com/stockholm>http://ngroups.com/stockholm and give your 
>>counsel on the survey behind the Message to Johannesburg.  It will take 
>>three minutes of your time, and we need you.  (And you just may need us).  ;-)
>
>
>--
>=======================================================================
>TRIPP website <http://www.iitd.ac.in/tripp/>http://www.iitd.ac.in/tripp/
>
>READ THE DECLARATION ON PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO SAFETY
><http://www.iitd.ac.in/tripp/righttosafety/rightframe.html>http://www.iitd.ac.in/tripp/righttosafety/rightframe.html 
>
>
>[IMORTANT: if this server gives you trouble in sending a mail to me,
>you can use <trippdelhi at hotmail.com> temporarily.]
>=======================================================================
>Dinesh Mohan
>Henry Ford Professor for Biomechanics and Transportation Safety
>Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme
>Room MS 808, Main Building
>Indian Institute of Technology
>Hauz Khas
>New Delhi 110016
>
>Phone:    (+91 11) 659 1147 & 659 6361
>FAX:      (+91 11) 685 8703 & 685 1169
>Home:   (+91 11) 649 4910
>Email:    dmohan at cbme.iitd.ernet.in
>===================================================================


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sujit Patwardhan.
PARISAR,
Yamuna, ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007
Tel: 5537955
Email: sujit at vsnl.com
*****************************************************************
In nature there are neither Rewards nor Punishments---
there are Consequences.
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