By Our Editor
People of ancient India regarded Earth as their ‘Mother’ to be loved and respected. They took from Nature only what was needed to sustain life and considered it a sacrilege to exploit nature for their selfish interest. Modern civilisation has forgotten the rich traditional values that human beings had been keeping and preserving for centuries. The result is catastrophic and at this rate of exploitation, the planet may meet its doom. Fortunately, good sense prevails and people realise that the immediate task is to introduce necessary measures to preserve the environment so that the human race can survive and flourish. Inventions and machines that are supposed to benefit people are at the same time polluting agents which poison the air. These, therefore, need to be rectified and modified so that benefits can be enjoyed, causing no harmful effects.
Vehicles have been very useful for travelling and for carrying goods. They have greatly reduced the distance and saved time and energy too. But the emission of toxic fumes from vehicles running on diesel and petrol is the biggest cause of air pollution in the country. The number of vehicles has increased at an alarming rate. India is the fourth-largest producer of vehicles in the world and these run-on fossil fuels. Our country depends much on the import of diesel and petrol, accounting for 83 per cent of its needs, thus draining our assets. Our beautiful and small state of Meghalaya, which has been cherished and acclaimed nationwide, is also succumbing to the hazardous effects of air pollution due to the ever-increasing number of vehicles. Traffic congestion is becoming a regular affair which creates inconveniences to commuters, not to mention the noise pollution due to reckless honking of horns. In order to arrest the ever-growing menace, the Government of India launched the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME) on April 1, 2015, as part of the National Electric Mobility Mission. About a quarter of a century earlier in 1991, the Government of India had entrusted the task of environment control to the Forest and Environment Ministry and the Central Pollution Control Board which initially covered petrol-run vehicles only. Subsequently, new norms have been introduced.
Under FAME India Scheme, the Centre creates awareness on the benefits of electric-run cars and two-wheeler hybrid vehicles. For the first phase (2015-2019) of this scheme, 2,80,987 electric and hybrid vehicles were supported, costing Rs 359 crore. The Ministry of Heavy Industries has also contributed Rs 280 crore for 425 vehicles in various cities of the country. Regarding the second phase (2019-2022), the government has set a target of supporting 7,000 e-buses, 5 lakh e-three wheelers, 55,000 e-passenger cars and 10lakh e-two wheelers. By using the FAME India Scheme, the country will be able to save 52,794 litres of fossil fuel per day. Initially, the proposal was received with mixed feelings, but soon got a friendly response from the public and the operators. Over and above, the Centre has set the norms that from April 1, 2020, only vehicles complying with restrictions of air pollution can be sold in the country. Environmentalists have calculated that by switching to electric vehicles, the country could reduce the emission of carbon dioxide by over 20 crore kg.