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court order, the project’s required
Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) was deficient.
The ruling is a triumph for the
coalition of NGOs and local activists
that have been fighting the highway
since construction started in the spring
of 1998. Among the issues were the
planned highway’s route through a
nature reserve and within 300 meters
of a residential area, the failure of
authorities to notify the public and
solicit public participation, and the
noise and air pollution levels which
would exceed Hungarian standards.
Indian Court Rules For
Clean Air
On April 29, 1999 the Supreme
Court of India ruled that all new cars
must meet Euro I auto emmissions
standards by June 1, 1999 and meet
more stringent Euro II standards by
April 2000 — five years ahead of the
previous deadline. Though the ruling
only applies to cars sold in the New
Delhi region, it represents a major victory
for clean air advocates.
Unfortunately, an increasing share of
the air pollution problem in Delhi is
coming from diesel vehicles. Diesel
cars are much worse than gasoline cars
for particulate emissions, which is a
serious problem in Delhi. The typical
diesel car in Delhi emits 5 to 6 times
the World Health Organization’s recommended
particulate tailpipe emission
standards.
While diesel fuel is no longer subsidized,
it is untaxed. Gasoline, by contrast,
is heavily taxed in order to crosssubsidize
kerosine. The original policy
was intended to support the agricultural
sector and public transit vehicles,
but the majority of the benefits are captured
by urban motorists who are
increasingly switching to diesel. Ford,
General Motors, Mercedes, Fiat,
Mitsubishi and Hindustani Motors are
all developing diesel cars for India.
When the Centre for Science and
Environment in Delhi published articles
attacking the companies which
were switching to diesel for endangering
people’s health, they were sued by
TELCO, the Indian manufacturer of the
“Tata Sumo”, an Indian diesel sports
utility vehicle. Ultimately the case was
dropped. For more information, check
CSE’s web site at www.cseindia.org.
Progress on Bike Promotion
in Metro Manila
Plans for developing a bike network
in Metro Manila are finally off the
ground. The Mayor of Marakina in
Manila, Mr. Bayani Fernando, has in
mind a network of bike paths mainly
along the Marikina River which would
provide access to twelve of the fourteen
districts in the city. The idea came closer
to reality when the World Bank suggested
the project, providing $25,000
for the feasibility study and potentially
$1.3 million for its construction from
the Global Environmental Facility. The
National Center for Transportation
Studies at the University of the
Philippines – Diliman has put together
a team to do the feasibility study. The
views of the team and the Mayor do
not agree on all issues. SUSTRAN
General Assembly member Ramon
Fernan, an avid cyclist in the group
developing the feasibility study, says
that while cyclists would welcome the
bike path along the Marikina River
(which will become more important if
the planned commercial developments
and multi-modal transport terminals
are built at the south end of the river)
continued on p.15
Fall 1999 5