Green brigade hails diesel hike

NEW DELHI: The green brigade expressed happiness about the country-wide hike in diesel price. But while welcoming the move, those environment activists fighting for disincentivization of diesel for several years said the process of price rationalization between petrol and diesel must continue.
“We are seeing a distortion in demand due to the huge price difference between diesel and petrol with more and more people opting for diesel for personal mobility.To reduce this, it is imperative that this price gap is reduced. Delhi itself has witnessed the impact of dieselization of vehicles. This has led to a steady rise in air pollution levels, undoing the benefits the city accrued from conversion to CNG. It is necessary that the incentive to opt for diesel cars is done away with,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, director, Right to Clean Air Campaign, Centre for Science and Environment.
Petrol had been facing a serious threat from diesel, especially since the price of the former has gone up several times in the past few months. But in Delhi, even after this hike, diesel is still cheaper than petrol by at least Rs 20. An environment department official said: “So far, India does not have clean diesel. If its use continues to rise, then we are headed for a serious air pollution crisis, not to mention its impact on public health. Petrol is a far cleaner fuel and diesel should be avoided in personal cars. Delhi is charging a cess on diesel and a policy decision for increasing its price might help in controlling its spread.”
Roychowdhury added that with the government now having started the process of rationalizing prices, it should continue with policy decisions to ensure that the gap between petrol and diesel is reduced further.
“Other than increasing price of diesel, the government must also increase tax on diesel or impose additional taxes on diesel vehicles. This has been suggested by various committees set up by the government and there is no reason why the government should drag its feet over the matter,” she said.