The ‘Burning’ need of the hour

I had quite an interesting experience this past month! From out of the blue, a producer from the Times Now news channel called and asked if I’d be willing to appear on the News Hour hosted by Arnab Goswami.

This was the day that the Supreme Court temporarily banned the registration of diesel vehicles over 2.0 litres in the NCR. Naturally, I had a few things to say about it – so I agreed to be roasted, figuratively and literally, on Times Now by the flames that emerge from the ‘Burning Question’ of the hour and lick your chin as you attempt to get a word in edgewise.

Now I figured that, since this wasn’t a political debate, it wouldn’t resort to being the shouting match that we’ve come to expect when two rival politicos face-off during prime time – or ‘Super Prime Time’ as Times Now prefers to call it. Legal eagle, Harish Salve, started off proceedings by talking about the judgement – which aims to reduce the number of trucks plying through the city every night, control dust by paving sidewalks, and ostensibly reducing emissions by halting the sale of cars with diesel engines over 2,000cc in capacity.

Now, IIT Kanpur recently conducted a study which found that dust, power plants, industry, cooking, and other seemingly benign activities contribute to 70% of the city’s PM 2.5 levels. Vehicles take the blame for contributing around 30%, but of those trucks are the main offenders. So, Mr. Salve and the Supreme Court were certainly on to something.

As someone who lives in Delhi, and has two young kids whose lungs are developing under the cloud of one of the world’s most polluted cities, the majority of the ruling was music to my ears. But, as someone who’s clearly aware of the miniscule proportion of the vehicular population being made up by diesel passenger cars over 2.0 litres in engine capacity, I was also a bit puzzled. Not only do all the vehicles in question meet the Bharat Stage IV norms, but many of them far exceed them since they’re at the top of the technological food chain and have – among other technologies – diesel particulate filters that trap particulate matter before they can be emitted with the exhaust.

So, what we really needed to do was analyse the impact of the ruling on the environment, society, and the automotive industry – which contributes almost 10% of our GDP. My view was that perhaps a better method – as opposed to changing the rules of the game in the middle of play – may be to provide an accelerated road map to the industry and encourage the use of technology to get us out of this mess. First off, fully deregulate the price of fuel so that diesel rates at the pump are in line with market values. Second, get the refineries to provide better quality fuel to accelerate the adoption of Bharat Stage IV nationwide, and then Euro V & VI equivalent – the current timelines appear a tad lazy at best. Start taxing vehicles by the actual emissions they emit at the tailpipe, and provide real incentives to hybrids and green vehicles. Use the funds generated by a reduction in subsidies and an increase in taxes to actually bolster public transport so people have a viable option of leaving their cars and bikes at home. Perhaps even consider a congestion charge in city centres, especially those that are bursting at the seams like Delhi is. And, certainly, ensure that the vehicles currently on the road comply with existing regulations. Much of this is ambitious, but, with the help of industry and the will of the people, it’s certainly possible.

Instead, on the News Hour, we resurrected Marie Antoinette, convicted Salman Khan, and mourned the fate of unborn babies. And, frankly, if that’s the state of discourse on the issue, then there’s not much to be said really – and, worse, not much to be done either I fear!

In the new year, if we actually want to breathe cleaner air and see blue skies on occasion, we’re going to have to improve the quality of our debates and the effectiveness of our solutions – that’s the ‘burning’ need of the hour if you ask me. Not that anyone did mind you…