Pollution pays

The Mahajans, a family of four who live in Vasant Kunj, South Delhi, daily waste 240 litres of water to get 30 litres from their reverse osmosis (RO) purifier six times a day. "I bought the purifier thinking it will end all our water woes. It gives us clean drinking water but I feel guilty about the waste," says Meenakshi Mahajan. 'Experts' have informed the family that the wastage is quite normal for such water-cleaning gadgets.

CNG Verdict: A Legal Debate

A seminal judgment The bold principles enunciated by the government are backed by a study of the practicalities involved

Delhi’s wake up call

One hundred and forty days before Delhi hosts the Commonwealth Games, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, on May 15, called a meeting to discuss ways to control air pollution in the city.

Kolkata air cleaner

residents of Kolkata are breathing cleaner air this year¤ according to recent findings of the West Bengal state pollution control board (spcb). The high court order banning two-stroke autorickshaws and old commercial vehicles is said to be the reason for reduction in air pollution in the city. The court order of July 18¤ 2008 was made effective from August 1¤ 2009.

Business as usual

Vehicles more than 15 years old and two-stroke auto rickshaws continue to ply on Kolkata streets. This is despite the high court setting August 1 as the deadline to get such vehicles off the Kolkata Metropolitan Area and the Supreme Court upholding the high court order (see 'Four stroke LPG autos only', Down To Earth, July 15, 2009). The court directive, however, was not implemented except in core Kolkata, which is about one-tenth of the metropolitan area. Initially, the banned vehicles avoided major thoroughfares but now the situation is almost back to

Four stroke LPG autos only

Obama steps on accelerator

Goes for auto emission cuts from far behind in the race us president Barack Obama has set in motion a national policy that is expected to make cars and trucks in the country 30 per cent more fuel efficient by 2016. The policy is also expected to cut 900 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions from vehicles between 2012 and 2016. This is equal to taking 177 million cars off America's roads. The

Thane plans a cycle track

An 82-km cycle track to connect residential areas of the Mumbai suburb, 52 km in the kitty Pravin Pandurang Mandavkar, 24, serves vada-pav in the Thane Municipal Corporation canteen. Everyday, he commutes from his house in Kharegaon, seven kilometres away, on his bicycle.

Update

The Calcutta High Court will now monitor implementation of phasing out two-stroke autorickshaws in the city. It has asked the state government to submit action taken reports every 15 days to the court. "Given the inability, for whatever reasons, of the state government to implement the order passed on July 18, 2008, it would be necessary for this court to monitor further progress with regard to the implementation of the said scheme at frequent intervals," the division bench said.

Come without your car

A festival helped a small town in Punjab discover car-free mobility Fazilka is a small, 162 year-old town on the India-Pakistan border in Ferozepur district. Its unkempt, garbage-strewn congested streets with small, bustling shops are nothing out of the ordinary. But this town of about 68,000 people--and about 45,000 vehicles on its narrow lanes--has removed one source of congestion cars.