Breather for diesel cabs

The Supreme Court, which has heard every possible opinion on diesel taxis, has been considerate enough to grant more time for around 64,500 taxis of the National Capital Region to switch over to CNG and/or petrol. This might have given the estimated $5-billion industry a breather, but the central issue of curbing the use of diesel as the most polluting of the automobile fuels remains. It is “not the only devil”, as the arguments went, because the dust and coal-fired power stations have been contributing as much to the havoc wreaked on the Delhi air, so much so that it is currently the world’s most polluted city, beating Beijing with emissions and PM 2.5 particles to spare.

Regardless of the arguments about a bias against diesel, the fuel most favoured by successive regimes to be a highly subsidised driver of the transportation industry — road and rail and sea — science points to diesel being the worst culprit owing to the nitrogen oxide engines emit and the obnoxious, carcinogenic, minuscule particles abounding, particularly from diesel engines running at low speeds. How our cab drivers contribute even more to this by sleeping in cabs with engines running is too well-known to bear repetition.

The court has rapped the lack of will in executive action in enforcing anti-pollution rules. The air the next generation will be breathing is the only noticeable legacy India can provide and this is an area in which New Delhi is failing miserably; other cities may not be far away from reaching such emission levels soon. Court action is the only possible saviour. Here’s hoping the conversion from diesel won’t take forever thanks to executive sloth.