Fossil fuel-based vehicles using petrol and diesel emit various air pollutants, like CO (carbon monoxide), HC (unburned hydrocarbons), NOx (nitrogen oxides), SOx (Sulphates) and PM (particulate matter). These pollutants emitted through their exhausts are extremely harmful to humans. In Delhi, for instance, one out of every third child is currently suffering from asthma and related respiratory diseases.

A study conducted by IIT Delhi in 2007 established that even though CNG-operated buses have been in use in Delhi from 2000, pollution due to diesel commercial vehicles remains a major source of air pollution in the city. Although commercial vehicles constitute only 1.1 per cent of the total vehicle population in Delhi, they account for 90 per cent of the total vehicular pollution in the city. The people of Delhi distinctly remember the day when all diesel-based buses were sent off the road and CNG buses were introduced. They could start seeing the blue sky over Delhi again! This highlights the polluting effect of diesel vehicles, especially in urban areas in India.

This is not just the case with developing countries like India alone; a similar situation prevails in developed countries like the USA, Japan, Europe and our close neighbour China.

Hence, tight control over the emission of diesel commercial vehicles is absolutely essential all over the country to protect the health of humans. Through strict emission norms and their effective implementation all across the country, we can achieve growth of both health and wealth in India.

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Diseases caused due to vehicular pollution include Asthma, Alzheimer’s, Strokes, Pulmonary diseases and irritation of the eyes, depending upon the exposure to air pollution. This effectively shortens the life span of living beings. The effect is much greater in urban areas because of the higher vehicular population.

A survey has revealed that over 900 million people in India are affected by air pollution. The number of premature deaths through harmful emission keeps on increasing. Some of the health impacts of the air pollutants generated by vehicles are:

Oxides of nitrogen (NOx): This gas can make children susceptible to respiratory diseases particularly in winter. Moreover, increased nitrogen loading in water bodies, particularly coastal estuaries, upsets the chemical balance of nutrients used by aquatic plants and animals. Additional nitrogen accelerates eutrophication, which leads to oxygen depletion and reduces fish and shellfish populations. NOx emission in the air is one of the largest sources of nitrogen pollution in water bodies.

Carbon monoxide (CO): It combines with haemoglobin to lessen the amount of oxygen that enters a person’s blood through the lungs. The binding with other haemoglobin in proteins causes changes in the function of the affected organs, such as the brain and the cardiovascular systems. It also affects a developing foetus. It can impair concentration, slow reflexes, and make a person confused and sleepy.

Sulphur dioxide (SO2): SO2 in the air is caused by combustion of fossil fuels. It can oxidise and form sulphuric acid mist. SO2 in the air leads to diseases of the lungs and other lung disorders, such as wheezing and shortness of breath. Long-term effects are more difficult to ascertain, as SO2 is often combined with those of SPM.

Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM): Suspended matter consists of dust, fumes, mist and smoke. The main chemical component of SPM that is of major concern is lead. Others are nickel, arsenic, and those present in diesel exhausts. These particles, when breathed in, lodge in lung tissues and cause lung damage and respiratory problems.

It is imporant to understand that these pollutants not only affect the health of human beings, but ALL forms of life on Planet Earth.

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The boom in industrial and agricultural production in India, along with migration of population towards urban centres for education, jobs, medical facilities and entrepreneurial opportunities, contributing to high densities of population in these centres, result in the need for more and more diesel commercial vehicles to supply food, vegetables, dairy products, clothing and other day-to-day needs to urban centres. More number of vehicles means more pollution, as things stand.

In order to reduce harmful emission of gases from vehicles, including carbon dioxide, governments all over the world have been taking steps to clean the environment. India has also introduced the Clean Air Act, popularly known as Bharat Stage, which is in line with Euro norms.

In India, it was in 1991 that the first set of emission norms was introduced for petrol vehicles. They were imposed on diesel vehicles too in 1992. In 1995, another regulation was extended to the four metros, Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai and Chennai. This made it mandatory to fit catalytic converters in new petrol passenger cars. This was necessary at that time as lead, the highly toxic pollutant, was required to be taken out of petrol. Unleaded fuel was introduced first in the metros and then in 42 other major cities.

Particulate Matter (PM), which causes serious damage to human beings, is emitted only by diesel vehicles. In 1996, a regulation was introduced that there should be a cold start emission test for diesel vehicles below 3.5 ton GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight).

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As customers, we are concerned about the quality of the vehicle while purchasing a personal vehicle or a diesel commercial vehicle. We look into features like mileage, lower maintenance cost, higher load carrying capacity, etc. But do we look at exhaust systems?

Since the service life of the exhaust system has not been defined in the Bharat Emission norms, manufacturers, in order to reduce selling prices, use less expensive materials like mild steel or aluminised steel for their exhaust systems and offer only a one-year warranty. Their perception is that a stainless steel exhaust system is “too costly”. However, when the operational, maintenance and replacement costs to the customer over the service life of the vehicle, say, eight years, are considered, stainless steel systems prove to be the best cost option to the user.

Stainless steel can withstand high operating temperatures of the exhaust system without corrosion over the life of the vehicle. This means (a) the high operating temperatures of the exhausts will maximise the burning of the fuel and will lead to lesser emission of PM and other harmful gases; (b) there will be increased fuel efficiency; (c) there will be no need to change the exhaust system during the life of the vehicle; (d) maintenance costs will be minimal and no replacements will be needed; (e) because of high corrosion resistance, thin gauges can be used, reducing the weight of the vehicle and further enhancing fuel efficiency – in other words, higher initial outlay on stainless steel systems gives life-long benefits and helps keep our environment clean; and (f) at the end of its service life, all the stainless steel in the exhaust train can be 100 per cent recycled.

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The authorities should: (a) strictly implement BS-IV norms for diesel commercial vehicles across the country without exception; and (b) insist on the use of stainless steel exhaust systems both from the point of view of mitigating pollution and minimising the cost to the nation as a whole in doing so.

Various grades of stainless steel for use in different sections of the exhaust system are available indigenously.(Courtesy: Stainless India, the journal of the Stainless Steel industry)

Note:

This article explains the harmful effects of diesel as a fuel for IC engines. While a lot of effort is underway to mitigate pollution by diesel commercial vehicles, the number of privately owned diesel passenger cars is steadily increasing. Why? Because diesel is highly subsidised. Private diesel cars do the same damage as commercial vehicles. It would, therefore, make a lot of sense if Government discourages use of diesel vehicles for private use.

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Several pieces by Waltraud Ernst in (1988) and O. Somasundaram (2004, 2008) eloquently refer to the origins of treatments and evolution of facilities offered to the mentally ill in Madras.

Support for founding the Madras Lunatic Asylum [MLA] in Kilpauk (the Government Mental Hospital, renamed the Institute of Mental Health in 1978) was signed by the Madras Presidency Government in January 1867. The MLA was constructed on a 66.5 acre site in Locock’s Garden, just outside municipal limits, and in May 1871 the MLA commenced functioning with about 150 patients and Surgeon John Murray officiating as its Superintendent. The Asylum Press Almanac (1888) refers to the MLA as follows:

“The new Lunatic Asylum at Locock’s Gardens, Kilpauk, provides accommodation for 515 insanes of all classes. At present there are 463 patients. Surgeon Henry Armstrong – Superintendent, in charge; Mr. C.M. Antonio – Senior Apothecary; Mr. E.T. Jones – Civil Apothecary; K. Annu Chetty – Steward; Mr A.C. McKenzie – Assistant Steward; S. Audinarrain Iyer – Writer; Mr. H.C. McColeman – 1st Class Attendant (on sick leave); A. Cartwright – Acting 2nd Class European Attendant; D.A. Bruce – Acting 1st Class European Attendant; W Fox – 2nd Class European Attendant; J. Byrne – Acting 1st Class European Attendant; Mrs. M. Fellowes – Matron; Miss E. Holmes – Assistant Matron; and a numerous staff of male and female native attendants. Official Visitors: Surgeon of 2nd, 3rd and 4th Districts and Sanitary Commissioner, Madras; the Magistrates of Egmore and Town Police Courts; the Commissioner of Police and the Superintendent of Prisons, Madras. Ex-Officio Visitors: Deputy Surgeon-General H.M.’s Forces and the Inspector-General of Jails, Madras. Refer to the Lunacy Act XXXVI of 1858 and Act XI of 1877 for Military Lunatic; or to the ‘Rules’ for management and superintendence of Lunatic Asylums, for information as to the mode of seeking admission for persons afflicted with insanity into the Lunatic Asylum.”

From the late 18th Century, the mentally-ill Europeans and Anglo-Indians in India were minded in private facilities – then called ‘madhouses’. The first facility came up in Calcutta in 1787; the Madras facility came up in 1794. Until the start of the government-supported facility in 1871, the Madras madhouse was in far less desirable condition compared with those in Calcutta and Bombay. Between 1794 and 1871, class-specific categories, even among the Europeans, were considered critical for admission into the Madras madhouse. For instance, one Captain J Campbell, a criminal lunatic, was not admitted into Madras madhouse in 1851, because it was considered unsuitable for his status; instead, he was housed in a large portion of the local prison.

The Madras madhouse was started in Purasawalkam in 1794 and was supervised by Surgeon Valentine Connolly. A building was leased on a rent of Rs. 825 a month. Surgeon Maurice Fitzgerald held charge till 1803. James Dalton rebuilt the madhouse and it came to be popularly known as Dalton’s Mad Hospital (1807–1815).

The Kilpauk MLA admitted more patients as time passed, which indicates that facilities improved: 330 inmates in 1880, about 600 by the turn of the century, and 800 by 1915. Between 1860 and 1915, civilian patients constituted 80 per cent of the total number admitted into the MLA and the remaining were ‘criminal lunatics’.

Medical historians analysing the psychiatric case notes indicate that Madras surgeons treating the mentally ill used the term ‘circular insanity’, whereas their contemporaries in Bombay used the term ‘impulsive and obsessive insanity’. ‘Circular insanity’ was till recently referred as ‘manic depressive illness’ and is currently referred as ‘bipolar illness’. By 1915, nearly 45 per cent of the examined cases were classified as ‘mania’ and 18 per cent as ‘melancholia’ in Madras. A quarter of the total number of patients admitted in 1914 were suffering from dementia.

Besides using the moral-management techniques of the 19th Century, chemotherapy, aiming at controlled patient behaviour and providing induced sleep, was gaining popularity by the early 20th Century. For example, administration of chloral hydrate – hydrated trichloroacetaldehyde (C2H3Cl3O2) – was considered useful in treating insomnia. Morphine was used to restrict hyperexcitement and induce rest. The Superintendent of MLA (1873-74) recommended as follows: “A little wine or arrack at bedtime induces a quiet sleep and I do not consider the use of opiates (either the constituents or the derivatives of the constituents of opium) desirable where simple means can be employed to effect the desired result.”

Although nothing to do with Madras, the following sidebar would interest readers. An English surgeon, William Bland, was convicted for murder soon after his arrival in Bombay and was moved to Tasmania (Australia) in 1814; he was then transferred to Castle Hill Gaol in Sydney. On receiving a Royal pardon in 1815, he took over superintendence of the Castle Hill Mental Asylum, Sydney, and thus became the ‘first psychiatrist’ in New South Wales (NSW). Although he started his life with a black mark, Bland contributed so much to the medical profession in NSW that on his death a state funeral was accorded to him in Sydney in 1868; a street in Ashfield (Sydney) and a shire in NSW celebrate his name.

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Japanese Ambassador Akitaka Saiki is making a special effort to expand Japanese economic interests in Tamil Nadu. He informed the media of the interest of Japanese industry in Tamil Nadu; of the 725 Japanese companies operating in India, 250 are in Tamil Nadu. These companies include leaders in the Japanese corporate world, such as Nissan, Mitsubishi, Toyota, and Honda. The largest of investments so far is that of Nissan Renault.

Saiki highlighted favourable factors offered by Chennai, such as the metro being the gateway to Southeast Asian markets. a good human resource base, and the State Government’s assurance of providing quality infrastructure. Saiki said he discussed with the Tamil Nadu Government three important concerns of Japanese companies working around the metro:

• Poor road connectivity to Ennore port,
• Poor facilities at the port, and
• Expensive port charges.

Japan is the largest bilaterail funder of India’s development projects; a large portion of this has been committed to the improvement of infrastructure in the northern capital region and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). Japan has also been funding the Chennai Metro Rail Corporation.

I suggested to the ambassador that Japan should also look at the prospects of developing the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. Of course, it requires a lot of push from the two State Governments. With land prices along the route shooting up and with a fairly dense population along the route, the two States will have to work really hard on this mega project suggestion.

On the lines of DMIC, there is also scope for a dedicated high speed rail line along this corridor.

A cluster for Japanese companies

For a number of years there has been a demand from Japanese companies to set up an industrial cluster near Chennai. Today, thanks to the initiative of the Japanese industries and its diplomatic corps, there appears to be a bright prospect for such a cluster. The site is reported to be on the OMR IT corridor. A high power delegation recently visited India and spent time in Delhi and Chennai. This is in contrast to the old known preference for Mumbai and Bengaluru. (Courtesy: Industrial Economist)

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