Autos top polluters?

Unlike the slogger at a T 20 match, who has to throw his bat at everything (surely the IPL fever is catching on to me as well!), a blogger can be a chooser. And I have chosen to share my thoughts, my concerns and my ideas regarding this dear city and its deteriorating environment through this blog. Please keep in mind this is as much yours as mine and feel free to shot your opinions on the issues that we try to grapple through this column.

When I was thinking about what to take on in this inaugural blog, I chose to go democratic and sampled few of the friends, and the almost unanimous answer has been the vehicular pollution. Probing further, the auto rickshaws along with the private buses have been identified as the top villains not only for belching toxic fumes over the roads but also for the lives that they help to snuff out (either directly or indirectly). Can anyone forget the recent accident on VIP road when more than twenty law abiding, unsuspecting city residents lost their lives – unnecessarily – only because two drivers tried to outrun each other for catching some extra passengers or extra commission? Does providing safety to the people, be it the long term one from the silent poison that these vehicles spew or the immediate ones from the accidents that these vehicles chose to run into, at all matter in Calcutta?

Few days back I chose to take an auto drive from Gariahat to Rashbehari and counted that the auto swerved and dodged 53 times (yes, I counted) mainly to overtake the traffic in front. What adds to the danger, is the tendency of the driver to peer outside in search of passengers (one seat was vacant through out the major part of the journey) while driving or suddenly stopping in the middle of the road when a potential passenger comes into his 180 degree visual frame, not to talk about the blaring music that’s being played or jumping the signal at will.

If you think that by opposing or going to police will give you respite, you are mistaken as the all powerful unions are there to give them protection. I was not surprised when the traffic police personnel at Rashbehari crossing informed me that he has no provision to book autos driving recklessly unless an accident occurs! “I can book it for jumping the signal if you insist” stated the official when I introduced myself as a media person. “But aren’t all of them doing it everytime” the question popped out from my mouth, but the personnel was clearly helpless.

But if you feel that by choosing not to get into the auto rickshaws will make you safe, you are grossly mistaken. Several studies, more recently by the one carried out by ‘Asian Development Bank’ (ADB), show that the auto rickshaws are just about second to buses in terms of creating maximum pollution in the city roads; and I believe that they were wrong! Autos are actually the top polluters because the international experts never considered that most autos in the city and in its fringe are running on adulterated fuel which is a mixture of kerosene, petrol and various solvents. The emission from these autos are extremely toxic and anybody commuting the stretches dominated by autos know pretty well the smell, the fume and the small choking at throat that feel every time they traverse the hell.