OpinionsOfIndianEngineers fully favors what Shri Nitin Gadkari, the Indian Road Transport and Highways minister has declared recently. He has been reported as revealing his ambitious plans for abatement of vehicular pollution that has become an administrative dilemma for the Indian capital New Delhi now.
In highly populated cities like New Delhi, pollution caused by exhaust gases from automobile engines that burn petroleum fuels like gasoline (petrol), high speed diesel (HSD), etc has become a bone of contention among various interest groups.
Citizens need transport convenience and most transport vehicles now use and burn petroleum fuels as their energy source. When petrol and diesel undergo the combustion process in the internal combustion engines of the cars, motorcycles, buses, trucks and airplanes, air is sucked in for aiding the combustion and the combustion products get discharged back in to the air.
The engines cause atmospheric air pollution because it consumes oxygen in the air and enhances the concentration of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, etc in the air. Besides, inefficient engines especially large diesel engines discharge some un-burnt oils and carbon particles through their exhaust pipes due to partial combustion. Very efficient and well designed petroleum engines should only discharge carbon di oxide, nitrogen and some water vapor in to the atmosphere. But that is not usually the case as most engines discharge highly polluting partial products of combustion.
When density of population and vehicular densities are lower within the normal natural degradation ability of the atmosphere, we need not have worried about pollution. But due to unscientific development of our cities the densities of population of both people and vehicles have gone high beyond the ability of nature to manage.
Vehicle movements also causes air born dust to increase, especially when the roads are not well paved or not maintained well swept. Normally when things are all okay, we do not think wisely for future. We start making a big hue and cry when things become quite unmanageable!
Indian cities are all highly polluted due to our own collective inertia to think and act properly.
In India it is very difficult reach to any quick practical solution to any problem. That is because, India is a democracy with its stakeholders having varying degrees of understanding about various problems and their solutions. Various authorities in its democratic system quite often move in opposing directions. No one seems to thing about the nation as a whole. They seem to think and act from withing their own limited domains.
Suppose that an engineer is posted as a pollution control authority. He or she then starts behaving as if pollution control is the sole issue affecting every one. The individuals refuse to think wisely putting on others' shoes as well at the same time! This kind of a behavior is seen in almost all Indians! They fight to win their point without giving others to express their views. Accommodating others' viewpoint is very difficult for Indians entrusted with some authority in some area!
The effect is what we have been seeing with regard to pollution control actions taken by various authorities for the national capital Delhi. The Delhi government came forward with the idea of restricting the numbers of vehicles on the roads at any time by making regulations for the so-called odd-even run dates. That meant car owners with odd registration numbers to drive on the roads only on odd days of the week. Even numbered vehicles, on the other hand, allowed on even days and on Sundays and holidays both types allowed to be driven.
The idea was not anything bad as such. Only problem was that the Delhi government did not consider the alternatives for the citizens to move in the city and the problems of some one going out with his or her car on an allowed day and returning back on a non-allowed day! No doubt, this regulation enhanced the people's problem and perhaps gives much chances for the law enforcers to make a quick buck by harassing the people for law breaking!
Then came the role of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) a quasi judicial authority entrusted with judicial powers for environmental protection. This body banned the diesel vehicles in the national capital on the assumption that diesel engines cause more pollution.
Then came the Supreme Court with its ban on the sale of all expensive diesel vehicle sales in Delhi creating a surprise jolt to the business of the prime manufacturers and dealers of such vehicles.
Apparently these authorities all seem to burn the castle for killing the rats! They seem to act with their own authorities in their limited space of responsibility instead of thinking of the nation as a whole!
Indian engineers know how to tackle these problems, provided they are allowed to use their knowledgeable minds in a rational and practical manner. But they are not allowed. There are several constraining factors that do not allow them to do so.
Under such a scenario, what Shri Gadkari has told is something special to be noted. Gadkari told about a better solution to the environmental problem caused by petroleum fuels.
His idea is about using the renewable liquid fuel ethyl alcohol or ethanol as a fuel automobiles. This idea using ethanol is nothing new. In the world, Brazil has been the pioneering country that perhaps commercially made ethanol a successful auto fuel.
India also could have adopted that long, long back. Perhaps that would have reduced our pollution problems and reduced our outflow of foreign exchange for import of petroleum. That would also have generated much employment and enhanced the incomes of our sugarcane growing farmers. But our earlier governments, dillydallied that due to reasons that they knew better.
But Shri Gadkari is both a successful politician and a businessman. His opponents might accuse him of reaping undue advantages, but he has the business acumen to know the potentials of ethanol as an alternative auto fuel in India. And that is what he expressed.
When ethanol is burnt in suitably designed auto engines, the combustion waste gases are not polluted with un-burnt carbon or other partially burnt petroleum oils that are all polluting. The waste gases in this case are only carbon di oxide and water vapor, both mixed with the unused part of air that was sucked in by the engines.
If the government of India actually issue the rules for use of ethanol or ethanol blended petrol for use as auto fuel without loss of further time as told by the minister, it is a welcome step and needs to be appreciated.
Let us only hope that some other authorities within the governance system would not create hurdles by opposing viewpoints!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Share your views and opinions honestly with the public. Non engineers are also welcome to express their opinions here. Comments using improper content are liable for deletion by the administrator whenever noticed.