10 yrs after 'Slow Murder' CSE ready with 'The Leapfrog Factor'

New Delhi, Apr 17 (UNI) Ten years after releasing a book narrating a deadly story of vehicular pollution in the national capital, Centre for Science and Environment is coming out with another one that talks about choking Asian cities with specific focus on Delhi.

After the first ever expose of the impact of vehicular pollution and pollution makers in 'Slow Murder' released in 1996, CSE is now coming out with a book tiled 'The Leapfrog Factor'.

The book reveals that small gains in improving air quality were being lost in the massive increase in car and two-wheeler numbers.

The book would be released by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on April 19.

''Asia dodders as automobile industry hardsells car as a lifestyle of wealth and freedom,'' it said.

But Asia could survive only if it reinvented the idea of mobility, it added.

Showing the way out of the 'haze', the book suggests that cities should be build on public transport.

Besides, leapfrogs in vehicle technology and fuel quality would cut exposure to the killer fumes, it added.

The book is a remarkable record of India's experiences with vehicular air pollution. It began by capturing the story of Delhi, and went on to set an explosive agenda for action for the rest of the cities across the country.

In the process, the book explored some pertinent issues like why, even after lowering of pollution levels in some cities, the public health challenge remained unresolved, why had a larger number of cities become pollution hotspots today, why could not we replicate Delhi's success with CNG in other cities and why were our cities getting clogged by a mobility crisis.

UNI IP AK PC1914