BS-IV checkmate
The country has a massive problem of older and more polluting vehicles. But why should this be an argument for delaying transition?
The undisclosed air pollutants
How furnace oil and pet coke are choking us as policy fails to stay ahead of underground developments
Smog has to be cleared
Losing after winning is the worst feeling possible. This is how I feel looking out of my window at a thick pall of black smog engulfing my city. It was this time of the year, exactly 15 years ago, when Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) began its right-to-clean-air campaign. The air in Delhi was so foul one could hardly breathe. That was a time when air pollution was an unknown curse. Not much was known about its nature and the toxicity of the air contaminants.
Fiscal Planners: The Class that Failed
Hit where it hurts most. Improving technology to cut emissions is expensive. So let it be. No need to take care of the extra cost -- even if it means compromising on clean air and public health. So obtuse and damaging! But so are our finance mandarins in the North block. They have culled all proposals for a fiscal strategy to meet tighter fuel and emissions standards. This dismissal of fiscal solution to technology transition blocks further negotiation to tighten the dismally weak technology roadmap of the Auto Fuel policy.
Dhaka - Delhi: Greasy tale of fuel pricing
It was a proud moment and a powerful statement when Dhaka rolled out a bedecked iconic cycle rickshaw on the opening day of the World Cup cricket. This is perhaps the only capital city in our region that can boast of zero emission areas with majority walking or on cycle rickshaws. Yet cars, only 10 per cent of all wheeled trips, bring this city to a grinding halt daily – traffic jams are as bad as we see in the worst of times in Delhi. Jam-struck on Dhaka’s roads, I understood, what warped fuel pricing can do to our cities of South Asia, and, wondered why our finance minister has not figured that out yet?
Dirty air and kitchen politics
Our Moms and Grannies will rebel. They have just about upgraded their kitchens from smoky chulhas to clean lpg burners.
The MMT Saga
Neurotoxic petrol additive MMT: Finally banished.The proactive move by the Union Petroleum Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, to ascertain the status of the use of the MMT, a manganese-based deadly octane enhancer in petrol, has elicited voluntary admission from the national oil companies that they have stopped blending MMT in petrol.
Fuel Economy Regulations: Setting the principles right
Avert the great guzzle
The oil price surge has caught the market watchers and media agog. Expert viewswar on price insulation, energy security and our vulnerability.