Cleaning Up Kolkata

Sepia Mutiny's Anna points out a startling article from the BBC: the City of Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, is giving owners of pre-1990 motorized vehicles one year to convert their guzzler to either Liquefied Petroleum Gas or Compressed Natural Gas--or get off the road:

Transport department officials say more than 50,000 vehicles will have to be taken off the roads after the ban comes into effect. . .A recent study by the Calcutta-based Chittaranjan Cancer Research Institute and Calcutta University indicated that close to 50% of the city's residents suffer from major respiratory disorders. Cases of lung cancer are also increasing throughout the city because of the high level of air pollution.

People are already decrying the effect on the economy, but I think the potential rise in tourism and sheer productivity could very easily make up for it. I know that when I've been in Kolkata days when I would have happily been shopping or touring the museums were instead spent cooped up inside, traveller's flu badly aggravated by the soot. Maybe the residents of Harlem should read about this. 
¶ posted by Saheli | 11:50 AM