Why is it that every time anything has to be done about pollution in our cities or in fact large environmental issues, elected governments do very little and it needs the Supreme Court (or other courts) to intervene? Between 1998 and 2001 the Supreme Court issued orders on pollution in Delhi
NINETEEN times.
On Monday, they intervened again and asked why tolls cannot be imposed on trucks passing through Delhi to discourage transit through the capital.
Sure the Delhi Government did, in its budget, in July this year, try and impose a similar tax on trucks coming into the city, but that fell apart with opposition from truckers and the inability of the state government to get the requisite manpower in place. And the National Green Tribunal on Wednesday ordered that an environmental tax be paid on commercial vehicles entering Delhi.
If the Volkswagen scandal has highlighted anything, it is that car manufacturers will do anything to sell their vehicles, including cheating big on environmental norms, so that their profits are not affected. In Volkswagen's case, they produced a diesel engine that did not meet the norms of the US. Since the costs of redoing the engine were very high, they
developed software which hid the fault, so that in tests the car would come through clean. But VW is not alone. Almost all manufacturers work at
fiddling the norms by sending stripped down versions of their cars for testing. The ones on the road sold to you and me are generally a lot more polluting than the norms call for.
But who gives a damn about whether you and I are slowly being poisoned by diesel (a much dirtier fuel than petrol), which when burnt in car engine (or diesel set) releases high doses of sulphur and those tiny particulate matter into the air, that enter our lungs and blood streams. Certainly not car manufacturers, and seemingly not our governments.
The Congress government, through huge subsidies on diesel intended as pro-poor, encouraged the sale of diesel vehicles to the rich. The huge rise in the sale of diesel cars has been directly linked to the price difference between diesel and petrol. (The subsidy on diesel at one point reached Rs 90,000 crore!) Its impact in Delhi is said to have been enormous, with the sales of diesel cars in Delhi reaching 50% of total sales in 2012. Car models that have diesel variants out sell the petrol ones, and overall 35% of all cars sold nationally are diesel. Diesel consumption doubled from between 2002 and 2013.
Why does the central government continue to discriminate against petrol? In Delhi, diesel is Rs 44.95 per litre and petrol is Rs 61.20 per litre. Why is there a gap of Rs 17? What starts as a Rs 3 gap between petrol and diesel cascades into this Rs 17 gap after central excise and state taxes.
Obviously the governments, both central and state, are actively encouraging the use of diesel. And while diesel cars may be much more expensive, the cheaper fuel and more efficient fuel consumption they offer more than compensates for the higher price.
Of course, politicians will harp their refrain about diesel being the people's fuel since it runs trucks, buses and generators, and any hike will fuel inflation. Maybe a little, but we have forgotten that firstly, diesel like petrol, is running way below prices two years ago because of the oil glut, and so a step-by-step increase in diesel prices (similar to what was introduced after the subsidy on diesel was removed), would not cause such great hardship; secondly and more importantly, rising prices will clearly show that there is a policy to discourage diesel cars, which, along with three-wheelers, account for the same consumption of diesel as do trucks. The current pro-diesel price has meant that today most crossovers are not available in petrol variants. This has to stop until diesel fuel quality reaches the level of petrol. And that isn't happening.
The lack of movement on shifting India towards safer fuel standards like Bharat V or better still VI is disappointing (Most countries around the world follow a version of norms set in Europe under Euro I to VI emission guidelines, which impose controls on the fuel, petrol and diesel, as well as engine exhaust, which influences how the enjoy operates.) Half of the country went Bharat 4 a few years ago and rest is following. Currently, much of the country is running on Bharat III diesel norms, which spew out 350ppm of sulphur. That is seven times higher than Bharat IV and THIRTY FIVE times Bharat V!!! There is no environmental reason not to switch and switch now to Bharat V. But again the Central Government has done nothing.
The auto lobby continues to press for delays, arguing that the costs of upgrading engines and catalytic converters (which reduce exhaust gases) are very high since and they need time to adopt these better technology. This may be true for big Indian manufacturers who would have to buy them from third parties but isn't for MNCs, who make most of the cars in India. Their parents already have the technology since they have to adhere to those norms (or at least pretend to) in Europe and elsewhere. Yes, there will be a small hiccup for manufacturers in re-tooling for these advanced engines and emission control systems but is that a big price to pay for the health of millions? And maybe the government can ease the pain by giving a one-time conversion subsidy, paid for by an increased excise on diesel.
And if India switched to Euro V fuel it would make a huge impact even on cars that weren't Euro V complaint since the fuel itself comes cleaner so what comes out of the exhaust is cleaner.
What is particularly disillusioning is that the NDA and AAP governments were both elected on their claims of bringing about change, and that too quickly. Tragically, both have batted well below par in many areas, using political opposition as an excuse for not being unable to make much progress. But in controlling pollution and improving the environment, neither has any excuses. How many millions have to suffer breathing problems or die of lung cancer (after all even people who don't smoke get it) before they wake up to the fact that they are allowing diesel to kill us slowly. Why should they wait for the Supreme Court to issue policy directions? The same governments argue that the Supreme Court should not get into policy matters but are unwilling to legislate improvements to the quality of the air we breathe.
It is bizarre that Delhi has become the worlds most polluted city and the central and state governments that promised us change continue to function like their predecessors. In dealing with pollution, the NDA does not need support of parliament, nor does the AAP need support of the central government. Both could in a day do much to change the air quality in Delhi and the rest of the country instead of listening to a myriad of lobbies.
Since everyone agrees that diesel is the worst offending fuel available, isn't it time to stop being soft on diesel?
Let the Central Government increase the excise on diesel, albeit in a step-by-step process so that the disparity between it and petrol is brought under Rs 10. Use the extra money for speeding the process of refineries shifting to a higher Bharat V norm by early 2016. Also, if necessary, give some incentive to car manufactures to re tool for Bharat V.
The Delhi Government along should also jump into this and raise the VAT on diesel (even if the central government does nothing). They could also raise the VAT of diesel cars. Together, this would bring a windfall which could pay for the resources needed to man the borders and implement their policy of charging truckers who use Delhi as a transit point; it would also enable the purchase of more buses and subsidized public transport as a means to cut vehicles on the road. In fact, since the metro has been asking for a fare hike, Delhi Government could impose a metro tax on diesel (and may be petrol) so that metro ticket prices are kept low. Given that by next year, the metro will have almost doubled to 350 kms, it is worth doing.
Our Governments must stop pussyfooting on pollution matters, and act quickly and intelligently. Is that too much to ask?
This is what it is like in Delhi yesterday (October, 7) and worse is likely to come in the winter.
(Ishwari Bajpai is Senior Advisor at NDTV.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.