Air pollution has reached dangerous levels, especially in metropolitan cities like Delhi and Mumbai. Few people are of the opinion that cities can ensure lesser air pollution by increasing the prices of vehicle fuel, on the other hand, few agree that other ways should be used to bring about this change.
Fuel is necessary for all private and public transportation. Diesel, Petrol, CNG, and other kinds of fuel are used by various types of vehicles. Fuel has already becoming increasingly expensive day by day. Increasing the cost further would lead to lesser use of private transport and more of public transport as people will not be able to afford even more expensive fuel. This would indeed help in decreasing air pollution in urban areas.
But there are two drawbacks to this – firstly, income levels are quite high nowadays which would mean that certain people will continue using their own transportation despite the rise in price; secondly, not everyone owns private transportation. People who do not own cars, bikes and scooters use public transportation, and increase in prices will only lead to pressure on public infrastructure. Therefore, this is not a highly effective way to ensure a decline in air pollution.
There are many different ways air pollution can be reduced in cities. Spreading awareness, offering rewards, banning firecrackers, finding solutions for the proper treatment of industries’ toxic gases, and many more. Awareness can be spread through advertisements, campaigns, and workshops at schools. Offering rewards for good behavior towards the environment provides incentive to work for the betterment of our surroundings. Toxins expelled by firecrackers are extremely harmful to all living beings – plants, animals and humans. Banning these especially during festivals like Diwali could lead to a much better air quality index, and so will the treatment of industrial toxic gases.
To conclude, I would say rise in price of fuel can not be the only way to control air pollution in India. It needs to be backed by many other measures. If given proper attention, air pollution can indeed be controlled.