New Delhi, Oct 07: Dubbing the national auto fuel policy as”eyewash", Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Monday alleged the policy played into the hands of polluters and will destroy the Supreme Court's initiative to protect public health. "The national auto fuel policy, approved by Union Cabinet on October 3, 2003 and announced on Monday by Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Ram Naik, is nothing better than an eyewash…The policy, which plays into the hands of polluters, will destroy the SC initiative to protect public health," a CSE statement said here.
The policy, according to CSE, is so weak and uncaring about public health objectives that it virtually denies millions of urban Indians, the right to clean air. CSE had earlier rejected the Mashelkar Committee's recommendations on auto fuel policy when they were sent to the Cabinet for approval.
"While a majority of Indian cities are choking on very high levels of particulate pollution, the policy stipulates that clean fuel (meaning Euro II norms) that is currently being supplied to Delhi - and has had little impact on its overall air quality - will be made available to the rest of the country only by 2005," it said.
According to the NGO, "People of the country have been given no option but to die a slow death, as nothing new is proposed for them."
Bureau Report