The Supreme Court has hit the nail on the head. By stating that vehicles pollute more than crackers, it is merely stating a truism that needs to be taken to a logical conclusion. Nearly four months after banning manufacture of polluting firecrackers, the apex court has asked the government about the logic of banning firecrackers when vehicles are the bigger of the two pollutants. It is a good question to ask.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

The apparent softening of stand on the cracker ban has come after manufacturers contended that the court’s order had left more than two lakh workers jobless. The court posed a question, which everyone is asking, without getting a clear answer. Which is the biggest pollutant in India? By far, experts have agreed that toxic vehicular exhausts are a source of considerable air pollution, next perhaps only to thermal power plants.

The ever increasing vehicular traffic density has posed continued threat to ambient air quality. India has an estimated 15 million vehicles, of which more than 65 per cent are two-wheelers operating on petrol. In all the major cities of the country, about 800 to 1,000 tonnes of pollutants are being emitted into the air daily.

Nearly 50 per cent of this comes from automobile exhausts. In the major metropolitan cities, vehicular exhaust accounts for 70 per cent of all carbon omissions, 50 per cent of hydrocarbons, 30-40 per cent of oxides and 30 per cent of all suspended particulate matter. Clearly, the chief sources of emission in automobiles are the exhaust system, fuel tank and carburettor and the crank case.

The Supreme Court was also reminded that the order banning crackers was taken at the behest of the government. It was clear even then that crackers were just one of the many sources of pollution, a fact that has been established beyond any reasonable doubt since the ban came into affect around Diwali. Since the festival of lights, there is no indication that pollution levels have decreased in Delhi or north India in general.

Recent showers did provide a temporary respite, but it has proved to be short lived. The principle cause is that no curbs have been placed on vehicular pollution. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government did try with its odd-even number experiment in Delhi, which was a sound effort, but the matter has been dropped since then.

The fact that pollution levels have remained at a constant even with receding winters, when cases of crop burning in the neighbouring states come down, proves that there is little point in blaming one single source for pollution.

Clearly, until a multi-pronged effort is taken to counter the scourge, it will not work. Come winter and pollution becomes a hot topic and as is evident now, the subject is receding from public discourse, with the advent of summer.

Hopefully, with the court taking cognisance of one of the biggest pollutants in the country, the anti-pollution campaign will shift to vehicular emissions. If it means taking on the honchos of the automobile industry, then this is the time to do it.