Changing commitments

    April 2001 May 2001 June 2001

Saboteurs Unlimited

Ram Naik's Ram Rajya

Telco And Fali Nariman

There are only two bus manufacturers in the country -- Telco and Ashok Leyland. Between the two of them they will share the large cng bus market of Delhi and elsewhere. While Ashok Leyland looks at it as a business opportunity and is supportive of cng , Telco would prefer to scuttle it.

Driven by the market

Any sign of slapping tighter emissions standards on vehicles triggers doomsday prayers as a price hostile market appears bleak in the face of higher costs surviving. Introducing cleaner technology comes at a price. With no established practice in the country to relate cost of production with health costs of polluting vehicles to adjust vehicle taxes, any move to phase in cleaner technology or standards is considered market unfriendly.

Broken promises

the deadline for Indian automobile manufacturers to inform customers regarding the emissions warranty scheme ended on July 1, 2001, but manufacturers have done precious little to inform their customers about the scheme that they were supposed to offer for Euro II compliant vehicles. The scheme aims at revealing technical malfunctioning in the emission control systems and making the manufacturer responsible for the same.

A great leap forward

People asked for it and the automobile industry gave it to them, but does the government even know about it. Six months after the automobile industry announced that it was willing to take responsibility for the on-road emissions from their vehicles, emissions warranty finally came into effect from July 1, 2001.

Going into overdrive

Luxembourg: Supporters gathered at Rue de la Gare, a one-way street with two lanes. This street became car-free in one lane. Ostersund, Sweden: In this city of Central Sweden, people arranged a car-free day by giving free bus rides to those who showed their car keys.

The biking balance

The Netherlands: A long-term project in 1999 started at the Dutch Cyclist Union funded by the Ministry of Transport to adopt better cycling policy in over 60 municipalities. The first city to have won the award is Veenendaat in November 2000. United Kingdom: A new initiative launched by the national cycling organisation. This will be based on a system to support local authorities to implement the cycling policy and measure success of the initiative.

Car-free housing schemes in Europe

Resource use: There is a low energy building standard involved. Solar-supported heating gets promoted. Rainwater is collected and recycling facilities and composting get a boost. Community: Residents are able to participate during planning. They are involved in running facilities too. And they have institutionalised representation.

More dreams sans cars

Say 'no' to cars. This is the ultimate verdict from people now fighting hard to reduce the dependency on automobiles. An idea that seemed utopian in the early 1990s is now firing the imagination of many more across the continent. Car-free cities are poised to chase dream cars out from crowded city centres. There are no car-free cities yet.