This refers to the editorial, “The devil in Diesel” (October 18). Colombian politician, Gustavo Petro had once observed: “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation”. The editorial has rightly concluded that although cleaner and efficient fuels (eg, Bharat-VI grade fuels, coal-based methanol) and also upgraded automobiles (with particulate traps, de-Nox mechanisms etc) are good, they are only a short-term solution to having clean air. Indeed, promoting public transportation system constitutes the long-term solution. I would like to add that the need is to also promote alternatives like cycling (with dedicated tracks), draught animal power (at least in towns and villages) like bullock carts.
The problem, however, arises with the rise of the consumer class and disposable incomes. Nearly every youth today wants to lead a luxurious life that includes owning a personal vehicle. Our Governments too are ever intent on improving the ‘standard of living’, without defining what it exactly means and whether it includes owning a car or a motorbike. Coupled this with the annual business sales of our automobile companies, we are not far from becoming what Margaret Thatcher once spoke of: “The great car-owning democracy” in which “a man who, beyond the age of 26 finds himself in a bus — can count himself as a failure”!