Restrict SUVs, save environment

Now a day usage of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are increasing among youth as they are fashioning about these cars. At the same time, use of cheap and toxic diesel in personal cars also witness increasing trend. Both are harmful in concerned with pollution and are adding toxic contents to the surrounding environment.
Diesel related emissions are already very high in many cities across world. Compared to petrol cars, diesel cars emit more toxic particulate matter and nitrogen oxide to the environment. Both are key pollutants, and putting public health at risk. In turn, dirty air increases the medical bills of the innocent people.
Diesel cars emit 7.5 times more toxic particulate matter than petrol cars. That means, one diesel car's emission is equal to 7.5 petrol cars in terms of PM emissions and three petrol cars in terms of NOx emissions. Moreover, diesel cars’ toxicity becomes comparable with petrol only when they are fuelled with near zero sulphur fuel and are fitted with
particulate traps. The market is shifting towards the mid to large car segments, which was so far dominated by small cars, and large cars are generally less fuel-efficient compared to smaller cars.
As environment lovers feel, A 10 per cent increase in large vehicle sales can roughly consume an additional 17,500 barrels of oil annually, and in turn pollute the environment more. Considerable numbers of large cars are run mainly on diesel, and most SUVs are captive users of diesel. Both these undermines air quality. In countries like India ‘clean’ diesel (with 10 ppm of sulphur used with advanced after-treatment systems) is not available, and is adding additional burden on air pollution.
According to health experts, even at very low concentrations PM2.5 could cause health problems. An increase of 10 microgram per cubic metre would increase in health risks like asthma, heart damage, and lung diseases, and long-term exposure may cause lung cancer among public.
Immediate policy intervention from governments is the need of the hour. Governments should discourage big cars and SUVs by linking taxation to the actual fuel consumption of the vehicles. That means vehicles with higher consumption should pay more tax. Governments should initiate action to introduce ‘Clean’ diesel technology that runs on diesel fuel with sulphur content less than 10 ppm and is fitted with advanced emissions.