The Hidden Costs of The Petrol Price Hike, & What You Can Do About It
The recent spikes in petrol prices will undoubtedly lead to a demand increase for diesel cars which are more cost-effective than their petrol-powered counterparts. The Modi Sarkar is ignoring the severe public health impact of increasing diesel emissions in the country, the energy impacts of the steady shift towards bigger diesel cars and SUVs.
Diesel vehicles make up 1/4 of new car sales in India, but this proportion could change should petrol prices remain high. Cheap diesel is not only worsening public health risk but also facilitating more motorisation and congestion. Cars have already become the second biggest user of diesel and beneficiaries of the official fuel tax policy.
The Health Risks
There is hard evidence on what diesel emissions can do to our health. After the World Health Organization classified diesel emission as a “Class I” carcinogen for its link with lung cancer, several studies have emerged on the impact of exposure to diesel emissions on health. More than half of EU countries report levels of nitrogen dioxide, one of the major emissions from diesel vehicles, higher than the EU’s legal limits for air pollution, transport and noise set by the European Environment Agency.
The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) estimates that a growing gap between official data and real-world results meant that “excess” nitrogen oxides emissions contributed to about 38,000 deaths in Europe. Additionally, the ICCT links diesel emissions to 107,600 deaths globally in 2015.
Here’s What You Can Do
1)Obviously, shift to more fuel efficient motor vehicles, the smaller the better. That aside, more importantly, knowing a bit about how an engine works and how to maintain it has never been more useful — accessing and cleaning the air filter with a reverse flush using compressed air, for example.
2) Fill up the fuel and press up the air pressure in tyres as early in the morning as possible. Fuel which has cooled down in the underground tanks overnight is denser, and you simply get more bang for your buck. Air pressure checked in the morning also takes you through the hotter parts of the day with higher pressure, which slight difference can make all the difference between a car that rolls freely as against one that rolls sluggishly.
3) The government hikes fuel prices, the Opposition then organises bandhs…and the public suffers. Start getting organised and let your local lawmakers know that their electoral future partly depends on how effective they are at reducing the wastage of fuel on taxpayers’ expense.
4) Start demanding that cycle parking as well as cycle tracks are provided in your towns and cities as part of electoral promises. Eventually, along with public transport, this will have to be the solution for multiple issues so the sooner we try to make life better for cyclists, the better.
5) Public transport is the one solution everybody talks about — but do we know how the local, state and central government’s tax and make life difficult for buses, autos and taxis? Please take the trouble to find out how the system conspires against good public transport in your town by levying all sorts of tolls, taxes, permit fees, seat fees and more.
These are just a few suggestions across a wide spectrum of choices available — but most are driven by the need to let your elected representative know that good public transport will decide his or her future.
Ketto & the Environment
Since its inception, Ketto has been a strong advocate of environmental consciousness in this country. Click on the links below to view crowdfunding projects it has been involved with for eco-friendly efforts. If you feel inspired, you can perhaps start your own project with Ketto as well.
Ketto Blog remains committed to inspiring and compelling social change to India’s most pressing problems through the power of great stories and engaging our audiences to take meaningful action.
