The Hindu : New Delhi News : Demand for cleaner air

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Demand for cleaner air

Staff Reporter

Stringent tax measures to promote more sustainable means of transport demanded

NEW DELHI: Non-government organisation Centre for Science and Environment has in a letter to Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram demanded stringent tax measures to promote more sustainable means of transport and cleaner air in all cities.

Policies

Listing its demands for the Union Budget-2008, CSE noted that while cars were not the problem, government policies certainly were.

“The Government should not buckle under pressure from car companies for more tax cuts or let them expand their polluting diesel car fleet. In the city, over 20 per cent of the land is under roads and congestion and pollution are on the rise. To benefit the common man, the Government should think about removing taxes on buses,” said CSE director Sunita Narain.

The NGO, she added, strongly believes that the current fiscal and regulatory policies do not adequately take into account the social, health and environmental costs of motorisation.

Maintaining that air quality would only get worse, energy use would go up and instead of moving ahead people would actually grind to a stop due to congestion, Ms. Narain said, “in our pre-Budget letter to the Minister, we have sent a charter of demands for mobility and clean air for all.”

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