The New Nation - Internet Edition

Cars pollute as soon as they are turned on, whether they are moving or sitting still in traffic. To blame the on rickshaws because they slow down cars is outrageous. Even when moving smoothly and well-maintained, cars pollute; internationally, cars are the major polluters of our air and the major contributors to climate change.

Cars pollute; lots of cars pollute a lot. CNG is cleaner than other fuels, but as it is a carbon-based fuel, it still releases carbon dioxide into the air as well as the cancer-causing chemical benzene, for which no safe level of exposure is known.

People traveling by foot, bicycle, or rickshaw arrive at their destination without contributing to air pollution; people traveling by a motorised vehicle, even a bus, contribute to air pollution.

While the rich are the main sources of air pollution, everyone breathes the air.

Meanwhile, if the some people believe they are somehow immune to air pollution because they live with air conditioning, they might wish to remember that they too must breathe the same air that they are polluting; the more cars, the more they will suffer.

Rahidul Samanna Roky

Dhaka University