Paris Restricts Car Use To Reduce Air Pollution — Can India Follow?

In other news, Paris seems to be doing a Delhi. The city will restrict car use on Wednesday as a measure against increasing air pollution. The city's Police Department said that this is linked to intense heat wave that strikes most of French regions.

Pollution 1

The city will allow only electric vehicles, and other vehicles that carry clean air stickers 1 and 2 on the streets. Restrictions in the French capital are specifically for June 26 from 5:30 AM local time and will be in order until midnight, a Paris police prefecture said.

The clean air stickers, also called Crit'Air Vignettes, have six colours that identify the emissions the vehicle produces according to the European emissions standard. The other vehicles, which are largely comprise of older and diesel cars, will not be allowed to drive in and through Paris following the unusual heatwave.

Speed limits have also been reduced by 20 kilometers per hour to help curb high levels of ozone pollution that are linked to rising temperatures. Speed restrictions are said to be enforced in Paris and Ile-de-France. Heavy vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes will be asked to bypass the city center and nearby surroundings completely.

2

The Paris police department also asked businesses that use polluting machinery to reduce operations, and to avoid using solvent-based products, such as acetone, varnishes, glues, and paint.

France is expected to witness high temperatures which could exceed 38 degrees Celsius in the Eastern and Southern regions over the next few days. Today's temperatures are expected to reach 34 degrees Celsius in the French capital and could possibly reach 39 degrees by Friday afternoon.

Meteo France has put 65 departments, including Ile-de-France (Paris and its suburb) under the orange alert because of the intense heatwave. City officials have decided to maintain the alert system in these areas till Wednesday afternoon.

Back in 2017, the Indian capital, New Delhi has witnessed a surge in pollution levels. Even today, the country has a high level of pollution and witnesses major increases in temperatures thanks to the number of vehicles on the road.

Delhi had enforced an odd-even rule that reduced the number of vehicles on the road. The idea was to reduce rising temperatures and to make an attempt to reduce the pollution caused by traffic.

3

Unfortunately, India cannot at this point pull off what France is doing. The country has a sorry number of electric vehicles on the road. In addition to that, there are a large number of people who depend on government and local transport to get to work and back.

What could be done, however, is pushing for maximum work from home days in any given month. Employees that usually work at a desk at an office could be allowed to work from home for one week every month.

This will help reduce traffic, reduce temperatures, and definitely help reduce the amount of pollution the country contribute globally.

Another point to note is that India adds a years worth of pollution thanks to the amount of fireworks and fire crackers used throughout the year. Fireworks are used heavily during festivities and weddings, and also over New Year celebrations. Banning the use of fireworks will also help reduce pollution and heat levels.

Thoughts About The Limited Use Of Vehicles In Paris

We're glad Paris is able to survive a day's ban on older polluting vehicle. The thing is, citizens of first world countries care about their country, care about the rising pollution and heat, and care about the environment. While India could contribute significantly towards fixing these issues, citizen do not care, and environmental issues do not even make it to our 'think list'. Working in union towards a solution is out of the question.

Most Read Articles

English
Read more on: #auto news
Article Published On: Wednesday, June 26, 2019, 17:16 [IST]
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X