Amartya Sen, Bloomberg and climate change science

Climate change as a subject of dinner conversation is sure to put off most people. Something like the fortunes of political actors is so much more alive and exciting than the impact of carbon dioxide, methane and so on on temperature, rainfall patterns and agriculture.

But as Amartya Sen explains in the Human Development Report 2007/2008 released by the UNDP, development and freedom of humans cannot be divorced from ecological and environmental concerns. His essay titled “climate policy as human development” may prove a tough nut for most of our politicians, who function from a very low base of intellectual rigour and have somehow found matters of detail on the environment uninteresting.

But they can learn the basics from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s own contribution to the UNDP report. Mayor Bloomberg tells elected representatives that they can no longer set distant goals and put off short term decisions that will influence the course of climate change.

To give an idea of what he is talking about, one must look at the transport solutions that New York is putting in place, such as the “clean air hybrid electric buses” that make up a big part of the Big Apple’s fleet, the plan to replace hundreds of Yellow Cabs with clean-fuel vehicles and above all, as this blog has recorded in the past, the congestion charging plan that will provide so much more money to run public buses and subway trains.

Of course, the agenda is not merely about transport. As Sen points out, it is as fundamental as the quality of air we breathe, the water we drink and the disease-free environment in which we wish to live.

Although India today has an Oxbridge/Harvard-educated leadership (starting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh) capable of adopting the right policies for economic development without the ghastly depreciation for environmental degradation seen elsewhere, it is an agonisingly slow process.

It is relevant to point out that globalisation and environmental concerns form the core of an interesting discussion on the Financial Times website, in which well-known economists such as Joseph Stiglitz, Lawrence Summers and Jagdish Bhagwati are participating. That conversation can be followed here.

Tata’s small car: Pachauri vs. Mashelkar

The social ideology of the motor car, an essay attributed to Andre Gorz, says that it can work only as a luxury. It is akin to owning a part of the beach. We may all want to own a little of it, but if we all could, then each would have so little that it would be practically useless. The same logic holds good for cars. If all of us had one and decided to use it, none of us can move because there is insufficient space.

As one of India’s better known brands, the Tatas apparently want to disprove that logic. They appear to be first in the race to come up with a one lakh rupee car, which will, as its proponents say, achieve socialistic ownership of what has always been viewed as a luxury. Indeed, in some remote parts of Tamil Nadu, it is referred to as “pleasure” and not car.

But why is the automobile industry in such deep love with India (and China)? It is not difficult to see that the heyday of the car as the means to individual escape is over. The screws are turning fast in the advanced markets for low-efficiency, carbon-spewing vehicles just as the growth rate for car sales has turned flaccid due to Energy Dysfunction.

What better place to peddle the fading mystique of cars than in the populous, newly prosperous markets such as ‘Bharat’?

But Dr. Rajendra K Pachauri, who received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has tried to sober down the euphoria. He must be commended for bluntly describing the one lakh rupee car as a threat to the environment. It is likely that his view will be dismissed by the powerful lobbies associated with cars, fossil fuels and road builders. The most likely defence is going to be philosophical: it brings mobility to the masses; some may also say that it complies with Euro IV norms, and so why stand in the way?

That kind of logic is at the foundation of comments by Dr. R.A.Mashelkar, the noted CSIR scientist who has consented to formally associate himself with the Tata project.

The one lakh rupee or even Rs.1.5 lakh rupee car bodes ill for social peace. It is bound to affect investments in public transport and improvements to service, as cross subsidy within bus and train services through differentiated offerings will be less viable — there will be less of the paying middle class wanting to take public transport. The clamour for road-building will reach a peak, which is good news for construction companies, but not for the environment. The toll of accidents will rise, and more Indians will be dead or injured and their families left to fend for themselves. Apartment complexes, which lack parking spaces for the majority of residents, will come under greater pressure as people quarrel over space.

There is only one way to handle the emerging mess. Do sell a car for one lakh because that is now a fait accompli. But make it prohibitively expensive to use it. Do a Ken Livingstone and charge a flat fee every time the car is used inside cities (New York is thinking of doing the same thing). That money should go ONLY to fund buses and trains (such as Chennai’s MRTS), modern trams (not the kind running in Kolkata), pedestrian and cycling facilities. Keep building such green infrastructure using congestion charging money. That is the only equitable and socialistic way to offer mobility choices.

Games losing Indians play

An item in the New York Times  presented what a court in New York found: the alarming reality of slavery in modern day America. To be sure, the United States has an unspeakably shameful past with regard to slavery, the painful details of which are recorded by Harvard historian Howard Zinn in his bestseller, “A People’s History of the United States.”

The NYT story headline gave no inkling to the surprise that it contained: N.Y. Couple Convicted in Slave Case, it said. The story was about two wealthy Long Island residents being convicted of keeping two Indonesians, illegal immigrant women, as slaves, torturing them and as a result of these actions, facing upto 40 years in prison.  

Countless slaves have perished in America, as Zinn records without any gloss, and many were traded by leading lights of the nascent country in the 17th century.

But the surprise in the Muttontown Slave Trial was that the convicted slavekeepers were not affluent whites but Indians. Mahender and Varsha Sabhnani.

It would seem uncharitable to view these successful Indians, reportedly running a multimillion dollar perfume business, as modern-day imperialists riding the crest of the so-called “Indian century.” India’s media would like to appropriate them in better circumstances, but they are described as just another successful all-American family, paying all taxes and leading the American way of life. 

This is a time when Indians (including the Indian diaspora) are keen to steamroll their way into the global bourses, taking over steel mills, luxury car marques and hotel brands as an assertion of a world-leading culture that was cruelly cut short by invaders and colonialists and is now poised for revival.

Sadly, there is little that is lofty about present day Indians, just as romatic notions about innovative Indians of antiquity may be misplaced. The primary motivation of Indians today, including the exploitative ruling class, is profit or rent. It helps those functioning within the geography of the Indian nation that systems are weak, and it is possible to carry on with their illegal activities with impunity. After all, if there is a low risk to defection, many would do just that.

But going by the news reports, it was unwise on the part of the Sabhnanis to try the same game in Long Island. After a long history of exploitation and cruelty (and despite being hijacked by shadowy neo-conservative interests), America has evolved strong institutions within its borders. They are by no means uniformly credible or perfect but they are a shade better than the India of the present day with all its pretenses; and the free play of voices over new media keeps them under scrutiny.

The point that I would like to make is that the Sabhnani case is unlikely to find much play in India’s values-blind media which is sold on the idea of a “Shining India.” After all, who wants to hear about Indians turning losers due to greed, when so many others, equally greedy and very rich are making it big in different sectors and walks of life, and in countries around the world? Never mind that there are more malnourished children in India than in any other country and nearly half of all Indians don’t have an enclosed toilet.

Can MRTS, suburban rail and buses boost Chennai’s economy?

What is the connection between a city’s urban railways, bus networks, footpaths and the local economy? The average vendor on the street would recognise the link readily, while those who are used to the cool comfort of their cars may not.

Urban planners are generally well aware of the importance of walkable streets and public transport for the local economy. Take for instance, the recent satisfied observation made by London’s Mayor, Ken Livingstone, that the holding of the Tour De France start in the British capital gave a big boost to the city’s finances — according to Transport for London (TfL), by as much as 120 million pounds. So heartening is the experience that London wants to do this sort of thing again before the 2012 Olympics. New York is another city that is moving towards a more people-oriented vision that will put pedestrian and public transport interests ahead of those of others when it comes to access.

When an event such as this is held in a big city, tens of thousands of people turn up. It is impossible for them all to arrive in their own vehicles and neither is it desirable. Thus, the train and bus networks play an important role. Many stores and other services that depend on the patronage of pedestrians will find ready customers in such events.

On the other hand, when you put in a bridge or tunnel for cars, that area is bypassed by the consumer. That may well be the effect when the overpasses in T.Nagar’s Panagal Park area, Mahalingapuram and G.N.Chetty Road are completed.  One of the factors that leads to this effect is the low priority accorded to the “shadow” regions beneath bridges: consider the experience with Kodambakkam Arcot Road bridge. Do you know of any business establishment operating in its shadow?

This important message is increasingly lost in the din of motorisation despite the many examples available in Chennai. Take the Chepauk stadium and the big cricket matches held there. At each such event, the elevated MRTS in its earlier avatar upto Tirumailai (Mylapore) operate to full capacity. The local economy of Triplicane with many migrant vendors, would be abuzz. It is a sad truth, of course, that the Chennai Corporation never felt compelled to do its part to make the streets leading to the venue more walkable.

The point that I would like emphasise here is the importance of holding public events that are aligned to the benefits conferred by rail lines, including the new Beach to Velachery MRTS. The Southern Railway could create or upgrade and hire out its infrastructure in the MRTS stations for appropriate social events, which would attract sizeable numbers of people. It also needs to work on the question of upgrading its colonial era stations on the other suburban lines to modernise them for the 21st century.

There is a demand for small halls to hold meetings in Chennai. If these halls are found in or around railway stations the familiar parking difficulties stand eliminated at one stroke. If some of the MRTS stations could provide such halls (insulated against the rumbling trains, of course), the problem of finding space would be overcome. Most of those attending would travel by train, and reduce traffic on roads in the bargain.

Other posts on the same subject are here and here. The full time-table of the MRTS service is here (need Excel viewer) and the fare chart for passes is here.