[sustran] One car-free day won't clean Delhi air, stop trucks, diesel-vehicles: Environmentalists

[Vinay Baindur]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/one-car-free-day-wont-clean-delhi-air-stop-trucks-diesel-vehicles-environmentalists/articleshow/49310532.cms



One car-free day won't clean Delhi air, stop trucks, diesel-vehicles:
Environmentalists
By IANS | 11 Oct, 2015, 03.22PM IST


[image: Environmentalists feel that a single car-free day in Delhi is a
good gesture, but mere tokenism will not work.]Environmentalists feel that
a single car-free day in Delhi is a good gesture, but mere tokenism will
not work.

<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/slideshows.cms>
NEW DELHI: A single car-free
<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/car-free> day in Delhi
<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Delhi> is a good gesture, but
mere tokenism will not work, environmentalists feel. Simply keeping cars
off roads for half a day won't matter in the fight against pollution - but
stopping trucks and diesel vehicles would.

"Taking into consideration the emission numbers, a car-free day really
would not make much of a difference to Delhi," Kushagra Nandan, CEO of
SunSource Energy, an organisation which works globally for sustainable
development, environment and tapping of solar energy
<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/solar-energy>, told IANS, adding
it was certainly a symbolic start.

Apart from its 7.35 million vehicles - the highest for any Indian city -
and 1,400 new vehicles getting added every day, some 39,000 commercial
vehicles (buses, trucks, private goods carriers), mostly diesel run, enter
Delhi every day from nine locations, adding substantially to the already
noxious mix that we breathe, a Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
study says.

"Without any restraint on the movement of these trucks, Delhi's battle
against toxic pollution cannot be won. Though light goods vehicles make up
for 49 per cent of all commercial vehicles, the relative contribution of
heavy trucks is much higher," CSE Director General Sunita Narain said in
the study.

The debate also comes at a time when the Supreme Court indicated that it
will impose an environment compensatory charge (ECC) ranging from Rs.700 to
Rs.1,300 on commercial vehicles transiting Delhi for their onward journey.

Environmentalists say this will not be a complete solution to the problem
but will certainly deter commercial trucks from entering the city.

According to the "Emission Factor development for Indian Vehicles" study by
the Automotive Research Association of India in 2008, the emission by a
truck or a diesel bus could produce nitrous oxide gases as high as 15.25
units, as compared to a petrol-run car that produces only 0.21 units.

The national capital is also infamous for having the worst quality of air
in the world, according to a World Health Organisation report, but the
decision on a Car-free Day on October 22 to fight pollution looks like it
has been reduced to a mere power tussle.

That the car-free day coincided with Dusshera
<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Dusshera>, when scores of
vehicles head for the Yamuna ghats for the immersion of Durga idols, apart
from revellers out to watch Ravana effigies being burnt, only promised to
make matters more difficult.

Thus, Delhi Police had initially denied permission, saying the state
government did not consult it. Delhi Police chief B.S. Bassi said the
decision was "impractical".

Thereafter, Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai stepped in and permission
was granted after the government agreed to observe it from 7 a.m. to 12
noon on the original stretch from the Red Fort to India Gate running
through ITO - the arterial Netaji Subhas Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, and
Tilak Marg - also among the busiest stretches on a working day but not so
on the first half of a holiday.

Vikrant Tongad, environmentalist
<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/environmentalist> working with
Delhi-based Social Action for Forest and Environment, said: "The role that
trucks play in bringing drinking water, fruits and vegetables from
outskirts to the city play a crucial role to the adding pollution."

The problem is more complicated as large quantities of food essentials are
also transported through trucks, he added.

Experts also say there is a huge need for checking diesel-run vehicles,
which contribute to a higher per centage of particulate matter polluting
Delhi's air. And the National Green Tribunal has also demanded that
vehicles older than 15 years be scrapped.

According to another air-quality expert and environmental activist Kamal
Meattle, a car-free day every month would have a positive impact.

For 28-year-old technology professional Ritika Mehta, effective use of
social media and websites to schedule car-pooling slots has done the trick
and saved her from expensive fuel bills.

"I notice a lot of people working at the same offices, living in nearby
areas, drive their cars all alone. That adds up to jams and even pollution.
One way to solve this is by pooling with others," Mehta said.