The Hindu : Sheila for `leapfrogging' pollution stages

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 02, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Sheila for `leapfrogging' pollution stages

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 1 . "We should jump some of the stages in the Government roadmap to bring cleaner fuel to the city. We don't have to go through all the stages that Europe went through. They were experimenting. We should skip those steps that did not work,'' said the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, today at a public meeting organised by the Centre for Science and Environment during the concluding session of the three-day international seminar "Leapfrog Factor: Towards Cleaner Air in Asian Cities''. However, she added that it was not possible to replicate methods adopted by other countries in Delhi. "Each country and city has to evolve its own systems and structures,'' she said.

For the past two days international experts, representatives from the industry, regulators and civil society groups have been debating the advantages of "leapfrogging'' certain stages to achieve clean air in the city. "Discussions have shown that it is most advantageous to jump directly from Euro II to Euro IV. While currently, the official roadmap of the Government is to switch to Euro III standards in 2005 and probably Euro IV in 2010, it would be most cost effective and environment-friendly to switch straight to Euro IV. Also, Euro III standards are not very different from the Euro II where we are today. We are too poor a country to take the incremental steps that Europe took,'' said Sunita Narain of CSE.

She also emphasised the role of fiscal incentives in facilitating technology change as well as the need to take effective steps in "hotspots'' like Delhi. Another area of concern, she pointed out, was the congestion on roads caused mainly by the ever-increasing number of vehicles on the road.

While agreeing with her, the Chief Minister added that a holistic kind of treatment was needed. "Delhi is a city with tremendous challenges. It has a huge population which is augmented by migration. This puts a lot of pressure on the transport system. Also, two-and three-wheelers are a traffic hazard. What we need to do is look at it holistically. We need to plan cities where the concept of neighbourhood schools, workplaces and shopping malls is possible. Hopefully, this will reduce the traffic on the streets,'' said Ms. Dikshit.

She also spoke about the need to look at alternatives which would be sustainable. "Flyovers were once the answer to the troubles of Delhi. They still are but two years from now, the concept might not be as sustainable. So we need to examine everything holistically,'' she said.

Issues such as congestion on the roads, migration, need for encouraging regular change of catalyst converters in cars, adulteration of petrol, bio-fuel and citizen policing to ensure better traffic management were raised by citizens present at the public meeting. One major issue of concern raised by citizens was the management of traffic and the lack of pavements along the roads. "There are no pavements along the roads. It is difficult for pedestrians to walk. Also, with the blocking of many cuts in the central verge, it is difficult to cross the road,'' said a citizen.

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