Lest we forget...
There was the glitz of shiny automobiles and the glamour of pretty girls: an unpleasant reminder of the ground realities of the car boom in India. Amid all this, the Right to Clean Air Campaign of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) presented the ugly face of air pollution at its stall at the Auto Expo 2000. The panels along the walls of the stall underlined the inaction of the government, the laxity of automobile manufacturers and apathy of officials, highlighting the deteriorating air quality of Delhi. The stall drew attention to the all-important Supreme Court (SC) order to clean up the air of Delhi.
"We shall overcome with your help," wrote the chief minister of Delhi, Shiela Dikshit, on the graffiti board while inaugurating the stall on January 12, 2000.The chief minister acknowledged that the government had been unable to implement the SC order to convert all Delhi Transport Corporation buses from diesel to compressed natural gas (CNG), adding that it would be implemented by the end of the year. Answering the questions of schoolchildren who were reporting for Gobar Times , the children's supplement of Down To Earth, Dikshit admitted that the government had not done enough to curb the growth of diesel.
Anil Agarwal, director of CSE, made a presentation on the occasion. He asked the chief minister to consider a 'smog alert' system for Delhi to warn citizens when pollution reaches harmful levels. He stressed that luxury diesel cars be banned immediately in Delhi and that tax systems to improve technology and fuel quality be introduced.
One of the features of the stall was an online survey, in which 925 visitors participated. As many as 86.28 per cent of the participants believed that both the government and the automobile industry were responsible for air pollution. More than 81 per cent were of the opinion that diesel luxury cars should not be allowed on the road, while over 60 per cent believed pollution control certificates do not help reduce vehicular air pollution.
A major crowd-puller was the sophisticated lung function testing equipment provided by S K Chhabra, head of the department of cardiorespiratory physiology at the Vallabbhai Patel Chest Institute, New Delhi. Visitors got an opportunity to check if their lungs functioned normally - free of cost. The chief minister was among those who got their lungs tested.
The painting competition on January 15, 2000, organised by CSE's Environment Education Unit, drew more than 300 children. A special edition of Gobar Times, brought out entirely by Delhi schoolchildren, was presented to Venu Srinivasan, president of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, on January 17. This special edition also carried cartoons, bringing out the contrast between the skimpy clothes and glittering cars at the exhibition, on the one hand, and the message of the CSE stall, on the other.
Among those present at the inaugural function was Birgit Storgaard Madsen, ambassador of Denmark. She gave tips to the children on bringing out the special edition of Gobar Times. The eminent people who visited the stall included renowned social activist Anna Hazare; chief justice of the Delhi High Court S Variava; resident consultant to the Delegation of the European Commission Philippe Jacques; and counsellor and head of the Embassy of Sweden Owe Anderson.