Media, and especially the TV news channels, is the most powerful entity in today's world. It frames the narrative, it controls the narrative, and it makes sure that nothing outside the narrative reaches the masses. And media is not a neutral entity working for the interests of the people. It is just another group of human beings, in which each human being works for his own personal interest, and tries to promote that which will promote his own interest above everything else. Media persons have their ideological preferences, their political choices, and are amenable to monetary incentives, and are afraid of losing their livelihoods, just like persons in any other profession. There is another industry that has neatly meshed with the media: the NGO industry. NGOs are organisations promoting various causes, fighting various issues, trying to solve various problems facing the people; and more they are seen working towards these aims, more funding they get, enabling those working in them become more financially sound. So they take up causes which make sense to laymen (though, as we would soon see, common sense is not always correct), use media very skilfully to create a scare, and then make sure that they are seen to be doing something about that which is at the root of the scare. Delhi has always been just a seat of government. But with modern economy, it has become an economic hub also, as businesses found safety here. With businesses came jobs, and with jobs came people, and that created even more jobs, and so Delhi is now a jobs capital also. Jobs meant that people needed to commute, and that meant that ever more vehicles came onto the roads of Delhi. Being the seat of the government, the core of Delhi has single storey bungalows. Industries and businesses therefore first went to periphery, and then to suburbs like Sahibabad, NOIDA, Faridabad, and lately Gurgaon. Therefore, people are all the time travelling between these business hubs, crossing the core. Delhi, especially the core, has a very dense tree cover also. And large areas in Delhi are unpaved, including spaces on either side of the roads. Winter temperatures are low in Delhi. Trees lower it even more, and make air circulation difficult. Delhi is located on the eastern boundary of a vast desert. So wind is always dust laden in any case. With poor air circulation, fumes from the vehicle exhausts stay longer, making air quality poor. This poor quality air of Delhi has caught the fancy of activist class of India. Being the Leftists, the activist class hates all prosperity, and cars are the best symbol of the rising prosperity of India. Most of the vehicular pollution in Delhi is caused by trucks, buses, and two wheelers, but Leftists are always careful to zero in on the symbols that are associated with the rich. So they have successfully branded the cars as the chief villains. And for every problem, the Leftists have only one solution: clamp down on or regulate the economic activity. And therefore, they have decided that to make Delhi pollution free, people must be prevented from using their cars. To begin with, they have curtailed the car usage to 50%, by mandating that on a given date, only the odd or even numbered cars will ply on the roads of Delhi, depending on whether the date is odd or even. That is, they have rationed the car usage in Delhi. First, the pollution. Delhi has pollution. And a government has the police powers to regulate the things to ensure public health. But is pollution in Delhi so alarming that the police powers needed to be used?
Odd Delhi, Even Delhi: What Is At Stake
Odd Delhi, Even Delhi: What Is At Stake
Odd Delhi, Even Delhi: What Is At Stake
Media, and especially the TV news channels, is the most powerful entity in today's world. It frames the narrative, it controls the narrative, and it makes sure that nothing outside the narrative reaches the masses. And media is not a neutral entity working for the interests of the people. It is just another group of human beings, in which each human being works for his own personal interest, and tries to promote that which will promote his own interest above everything else. Media persons have their ideological preferences, their political choices, and are amenable to monetary incentives, and are afraid of losing their livelihoods, just like persons in any other profession. There is another industry that has neatly meshed with the media: the NGO industry. NGOs are organisations promoting various causes, fighting various issues, trying to solve various problems facing the people; and more they are seen working towards these aims, more funding they get, enabling those working in them become more financially sound. So they take up causes which make sense to laymen (though, as we would soon see, common sense is not always correct), use media very skilfully to create a scare, and then make sure that they are seen to be doing something about that which is at the root of the scare. Delhi has always been just a seat of government. But with modern economy, it has become an economic hub also, as businesses found safety here. With businesses came jobs, and with jobs came people, and that created even more jobs, and so Delhi is now a jobs capital also. Jobs meant that people needed to commute, and that meant that ever more vehicles came onto the roads of Delhi. Being the seat of the government, the core of Delhi has single storey bungalows. Industries and businesses therefore first went to periphery, and then to suburbs like Sahibabad, NOIDA, Faridabad, and lately Gurgaon. Therefore, people are all the time travelling between these business hubs, crossing the core. Delhi, especially the core, has a very dense tree cover also. And large areas in Delhi are unpaved, including spaces on either side of the roads. Winter temperatures are low in Delhi. Trees lower it even more, and make air circulation difficult. Delhi is located on the eastern boundary of a vast desert. So wind is always dust laden in any case. With poor air circulation, fumes from the vehicle exhausts stay longer, making air quality poor. This poor quality air of Delhi has caught the fancy of activist class of India. Being the Leftists, the activist class hates all prosperity, and cars are the best symbol of the rising prosperity of India. Most of the vehicular pollution in Delhi is caused by trucks, buses, and two wheelers, but Leftists are always careful to zero in on the symbols that are associated with the rich. So they have successfully branded the cars as the chief villains. And for every problem, the Leftists have only one solution: clamp down on or regulate the economic activity. And therefore, they have decided that to make Delhi pollution free, people must be prevented from using their cars. To begin with, they have curtailed the car usage to 50%, by mandating that on a given date, only the odd or even numbered cars will ply on the roads of Delhi, depending on whether the date is odd or even. That is, they have rationed the car usage in Delhi. First, the pollution. Delhi has pollution. And a government has the police powers to regulate the things to ensure public health. But is pollution in Delhi so alarming that the police powers needed to be used?