CSE STATEMENT ON PETROL PRICE HIKE

PRICING TO KILL
The ever widening gap between prices of petrol and diesel will encourage the use of diesel, and result in killing thousands more due to air pollution, says the Centre for Science and Environment

The Union budget for 1998--99 is out with a mandate to kill. The Centre for Science and Environment expresses deep anger at the recent price hike in petrol without corresponding increase in prices of diesel as this will make dirty diesel more attractive and aid in dieselisation of cities killing thousands more due to air pollution.

Even though the government has rolled back the original hike of four rupees, the one rupee hike is still unacceptable as this will further widen the gap between the prices of diesel and petrol.

Scientific evidence on the carcinogenic effect of toxic particulate emissions from diesel, particularly the poor quality diesel produced in India, has bypassed the planning pundits completely. Diesel fumes are more dangerous than what was previously thought. Recent reports from the USEPA show that diesel engines emit almost 100 times more particulate matter than gasoline engines. Scientists in Japan have also isolated a deadly compound in diesel fumes which is known to be the strongest carcinogen known till now. Scientists in the Central Pollution Control Board in India inform that the relative contribution of diesel vehicles to pollution load is higher than petrol vehicles.

There is a complete lack of concerted effort on the part of the concerned ministries of Finance, Environment and Forests, Petroleum and Natural Gas and Surface Transport to address the environmental fall out of the fuel pricing policy which is leading to skewed growth in diesel consumption in the automotive sector and more deadly toxic fumes in the urban ambience endangering public health.

The myth attached to the government policy to keep diesel prices cheap, ostensibly to help agricultural poor and to avoid adulteration of diesel with subsidised kerosene, has long been exploded. The biggest benefactor of the cheap diesel and subsidised kerosene are the urban consumers. While the transport sector uses 70 per cent of the diesel produced in the country, urban population use 70 per cent of the kerosene meant for the rural poor. Even the argument that the diesel should be cheaper to keep freight cost low does not augur well. Freight movement by road is more energy inefficient and polluting than the rail transport. In 1970-71, 66 per cent of freight traffic was by rail. This has fell to 47 per cent by 1991-92 thanks to cheap diesel.

CSE takes serious note of the fact that the pricing policy on fuel is only providing fiscal incentive to the private vehicle sector to go for more diesel models for upper class mobility. All automobile majors in India are clamouring to introduce more diesel cars. Maruti Udyog Limited, joint venture of Mitsubishi and Hindustan Motors, Premier Automobile Limited, Mercedez Benz, Ford Escorts are all producing diesel lines. TELCO which is venturing for the first time into personal vehicle segment has already introduced 1400cc diesel Indica Mint.

This dieselisation of cities is poised to take off based on extremely dirty diesel produced in India. Indian diesel is one of the dirtiest in terms of sulphur content which contributes linearly to toxic particulate formation. Sulphur content in Indian diesel today is 0.5 per cent. After much haggling the ministry of petroleum and Natural Gas has conceded to meet extremely lax standard of only 0.25 per cent by the year 2000 for the entire country while the rest of the world is moving fast towards 0.001 per cent level. The Indian diesel with 0.25 per cent sulphur cannot make any impact on the air quality in view of the current pace of the motorisation and the rate of annual increase in diesel consumption at 7 to 8 per cent.

CSE has already reported the trend in mortality and morbidity due to very high level of suspended particulate matter in Indian cities. While World Bank study has reported that about 40,000 deaths in 36 Indian cities due to air pollution in 1991-92, a subsequent calculation done by CSE has shown that the death count has increased by almost 30 per cent by 1995. Studies have indicated that more than 40 per cent of the small particulate which kills come from vehicular sources and the sulphur level in diesel is the major precursor to these tiny killers.

The new budget seems even more myopic as it has failed to see how such concessions on products like paraxylene meant to pamper big business in synthetic yarn industry is likely to impact upon vehicular emissions. The import duty on paraxylene, a product from petrochemical plants and an important input for synthetic fibres and yarn, has been drastically cut from 15 per cent to 5 per cent. This is potentially dangerous because derivative of naphtha such as this can be used to adulterate automotive fuel. This can lead to more toxic aromatics in the air.

CSE therefore demands that the government should immediately rationalise its pricing policy on fuel in the interest of public health.