This was highlighted in a presentation made by Anil Agarwal, director, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), at a meeting organised to highlight the lack of moral responsibility and concern for public health in India on the part of TNCs. While these companies take public health into consideration in developed countries where governments are vigilant about controlling air pollution, they throw all social responsibility to the wind in India, where government’s attitude towards air pollution is callous.

The deadliest killers in the air are fine particles, and a major source of these is exhaust emission from diesel engines. Diesel engines produce 10-100 times more particles than petrol engines. And there is no technology in the world that can effectively limit the emission of fine particles in diesel exhaust.

According to a study conducted by CSE, Delhi is already recording one premature death per hour due to extremely high levels of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the city’s air. Since Delhi faces the challenge of lowering particulates level by as much as 90 per cent to protect public health, any further increase in particulate load from the increasing numbers of diesel cars simply cannot be allowed.

Yet the Indian car market is being flooded with diesel models. This dieselisation is propelled by TNCs such as Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Toyota, Hyundai and Mitsubishi. While Indian carmakers offering diesel models can argue that they are not aware of the health impacts of diesel emissions, TNCs are well aware of how diesel emissions kill people in urban areas. They are already getting worried in California, where environmental regulators have mandated that very stringent emission norms will be introduced for both diesel and petrol vehicles in 2004-7. This will virtually ban diesel vehicles in the state that accounts for one-tenth of the total car sales in the United States, unless there are major technological breakthroughs.

What do they have to say
So why are TNCs bringing diesel cars to the polluted cities of India? How socially responsible are their CEOs? Does concern for public health figure in their investment decisions? Why are they ignoring the scientific evidence against the danger of diesel emissions from countries where they have their headquarters?

To find out, CSE’s Right To Clean Air Campaign prepared a questionnaire for the CEOs of these companies. And the CEOs’ responses were shocking, to say the least. "We want to offer a choice to the Indian customer," they pointed out. Urban Indians do not have any clue whatsoever about the danger diesel emissions pose to their health. So what sort of choice are TNCs offering. Between life and death?

All the companies made it clear that public health was a matter for the government and that they would meet any emission norms set by it. But according to the World Health Organisation, there is no safe limit for SPM. Moreover, meeting emission norms may be good enough where pollution levels are not as high as Delhi. But in the particulate-laden air of Delhi, every diesel car takes the residents that much closer to death and disease.

From the responses they sent, it was quite clear that the CEOs had no qualms about resorting to misinformation. Almost all of them claimed that diesel is an environment-friendly fuel. Ford India’s response tried to shift the onus of controlling air pollution to the fuel suppliers.

Denying that Mercedes-Benz India Ltd was socially irresponsible, its CEO said the exhaust of a Mercedes-Benz car is cleaner than the surrounding air. Not only does this undermine the fact that there is no effective solution to the diesel-particulate problem in the world but it also makes a mockery of the thousands who die due to fine particles in Indian cities. And the company claims to be one of the most environment-friendly in India.

So now Delhiites know what to do to escape the murderous air -- crouch behind the tailpipe of a diesel-powered Mercedes-Benz. Because the government will do nothing to control air pollution. And the Merchants of Menace will cast away all considerations—including public health—in their blind rush to make profits.