Warning auto industry not to “misrepresent facts” to underplay vehicular emission, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Thursday said emissions from vehicles are highly toxic and carcinogenic and that there can be no cop-out for cars, especially diesel cars.
The statement came in light of claims by the auto industry that pollution caused by diesel cars is negligible compared to other sources of pollution.
Environmentalist and CSE director general Sunita Narain said not only the diesel vehicles emit the deadliest toxins, but they do so within our breathing zone. She recommended car restraint through parking charges and annual road tax.
Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (Research and Advocacy) at CSE, said the auto industry has resorted to a number game by “misinterpreting” IIT Kanpur study to conclude that the contribution of cars to particulate load is so small that they do not merit any action.
“Auto industry has taken a reductionist view of IIT Kanpur’s emissions inventory estimates to claim that if vehicles contribute 20 per cent of PM2.5 and cars are 10 per cent of it, then it works out to 2-3 per cent of PM2.5 from all sources. That share of diesel car is even smaller. Therefore, they claim that the contribution of cars to particulate load is so small that they do not merit any action…. But Kanpur IIT study states that vehicles are the most consistent source of pollution throughout the year while most others are variable. Hence control on consistent sources is important to achieve cleaner air throughout the year,” she said.
Also, cars emit more PM2.5 and NOx than several other key pollution sources in Delhi. Also, the industry has not accounted for the vehicles contributing to secondary particulates, she said.
Environmentalist Narain said the industry is underplaying the toxic and cancer effect of diesel emissions. “The cancer potency of diesel particulate matter is 10 times more than benzene… According to California Air Resources Board, the number of excess cancer cases per million people due to lifetime exposure to only 1 microgramme per cubic metre of diesel particulate is 300 as against 29 for benzene that comes predominantly from petrol… More than 2,80,000 avoidable cancer deaths in Delhi are being attributed to diesel exhausts. Particulate emissions from diesel and coal combustion are more harmful than others,” she said.
Coming in support of odd-even scheme as well as Supreme Court’s directions to curb air pollution, Narain said, “looking at the comparison of air pollution data from 2014-15 and 2015-16, it is clear that while there was no clear pattern in the air pollution levels in 2014-15, in 2015-16, there is a clear pattern of reduction in peak pollution levels as we go along. This pattern seems to be in line with events like Supreme Court imposing Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) on diesel trucks entering Delhi, doubling the ECC, the Haryana Government asked to divert trucks, etc.”
“Now we are not saying the air in Delhi has become clean. But what we are saying is that the actions that have been taken up until now are beginning to show results. And we must recognise that because only then we will have confidence that we can take more action, and more strict action for greater impact,” she added.
Studies by the CSE have also shown that night pollution levels have also been lowered compared to previous year with reduction in truck numbers. “This shows up consistently after the implementation of doubling of environment compensation charge and banning of pre-2006 trucks,” the CSE said.
However, rising diesel car numbers are negating the benefits of moving public transport and light commercial vehicles to CNG. The CSE said the total number of diesel cars registered in Delhi in 2014-15 (68384) has virtually brought back more than 3.4 lakh petrol cars, or about 7,598 trucks or about 11,397 diesel buses to pollute the air of Delhi.