The anatomy of congestion

Steering the way

New Delhi, 15 November

Owning the road

When roads become an extension of living rooms

Manufactured Chaos

As governance formally surrendered the administration of Delhi to chaos on All Fools' Day, April 1, 2001, the fate of its citizens' health and public transport continued to hang in balance. Ministers and politicians had a field day blaming each other for the chaos and rioting that broke out on April 3.

West By Far East

Remember the cartoon of the European explorer in North America, waving an axe to clear forests while moving towards the west coast a few centuries ago? The slogan "exploring the west" in China has a similar ring in the ear. China now has its eyes fixed upon its wild, barren and mysterious west. The changes in these parts are likely to be dramatic in the coming two decades.

Singapore: Breathing Easy

Peak hour traffic scenario in India is a cartoonist's delight. Hassled motorists, rivers of sweat streaming down their forehead, accusing each other for lack of traffic sense in loud voices toned by the honking of a thousand horns. This is not so in Singapore. It is almost legendary now that one of Asia's wealthiest cities has one of the calmest traffic, too.

Exhausting Practices

it was bandied as a strategy to promote good vehicle maintenance and help curb pollution. But India's inspection and maintenance ( i&m ) programme -- in other words, the Pollution Under Control ( puc ) certificate scheme -- has turned into a major farce.

How carcinogenic is your CAR?

In a study conducted for the Centre for Science and Environment, Swedish consultants Peter Ahlvik and Ake Brandberg at Ecotraffic have found that after taking into account all the toxic components in emissions the cancer potency level of diesel cars is double that of petrol cars in India.

Sabotage

The past five months have been incredible. When we launched our campaign for clean air in 1996, with the publication of the book, Slow Murder , we had no idea that we were entering into a realm of high intrigue and deception. In all our years of public work, we had never seen such powerful vested interests at work, and indeed the lengths and depths they are prepared to go to compromise public health.

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