Topsy-turvy Policy
The road and transport minister is pushing for blending diesel with isobutanol following the earlier directive about blending petrol with ethanol. Meanwhile, there was a notice in the newspapers of late, alerting the citizenry that the water level in the reservoirs supplying drinking water to Pune city was running low, and, therefore, there would be a cut in the water supply. And here is our minister who wants to produce high water-consuming crops like sugarcane and corn to produce ethanol.
The argument for blending ethanol and isobutanol is that it will reduce our crude oil import bill. The second advantage, according to the authorities, is that ethanol and isobutanol are good for the environment, as they are less polluting. The first thing they should do is stop cutting trees in the name of development.
The biggest cause of pollution and fuel consumption is congestion and traffic jams. Here is a case in point. My daily commute from home to the office is 4.5 kilometres. Earlier, most of the cars I drove would cover the distance in half a litre of fuel, and the drive itself would take me between 10 and 12 minutes. Now the bridge over the railway line has been shut for two years for reconstruction, and the distance has gone up by one kilometre. The travel time has doubled, and the worst part is that the fuel consumption has doubled, too, because I, perforce, get stuck in a traffic jam on a daily basis.
The solution is not ethanol blending when there is a shortage of water in the country. Grow more trees instead of cutting down forests, and improve the road infrastructure so that the traffic moves freely instead of resulting in traffic jams that burn fuel unnecessarily. Furthermore, give the option of non-blended fuel to those who have old cars and who cannot afford to buy new ones that are E20 or E30 compatible.
EDITOR – ASPI BHATHENA
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