Car-free cities
This refers to the report “VW emissions retrofit may be among costliest recalls ever” (FE, October 23). Why cannot car manufacturers also contribute their might in reducing the number of vehicles on the roads? Of late, there have been cases where globally-reputed car makers have recalled their cars for one reason or other—be it manufacturing defect or emission scandals. The time has come for India to join the car-free revolution, as a few European cities have. Ministers should opt for shared transport in a bus instead of individual cars. We are talking of building smart cities and car-free roads should be a vital part of such cities. Oslo, in Norway, is planning to ban cars completely in a few years’ time. Other European cities will also take measures to have less number of cars on their roads and the steps include awarding public transport vouchers if the cars (fitted with tracking devices) are not used during certain hours of a day (Milan in Italy); cycle superways (Copenhagen, Denmark); pedestrians plazas (Helsinki, Finland); use of waterways (Venice, Italy); car ban days once a week (Paris, France); and car-owners facing compulsory non-use once a week (Tegucigalpa, Honduras). Our urban planners have neglected pedestrians and cyclists and have paid attention to motorists by building only flyovers to reduce traffic congestion on the roads. This approach has to change and those on feet or on non-motorised vehicles should be given prominence instead of those on fuel-guzzling, motor-run wheels. We can give depreciation allowance to cycle owners also apart from car-owners.
Deendayal M Lulla, Mumbai
Click to buy
Apropos of the edit “E-tailers versus retailers” (FE, October 27), with economic dispersal, came vastly increased centres of earning and population shifts. Services of every kind had to follow the clientele to be relevant and to cut down on cost and time of delivery. Growth has set up a series of economic strata between the rich and the erstwhile common man, and that has helped evolve a range of goods tailored to meet the needs of each sub-group. Kirana stores are to e-commerce as post offices are to e-mail. The products and services offered are different and yet are required to complement each other. Malls have not displaced the kiranas, only resized them. Each has a dedicated customer base. So would e-tail, which has accorded greater value to time,a stressed commodity in modern living. If the kirana provides a friendly nod at the shop counter, the malls provide an overall ambience for spending both time and money and e-tail delivers at your doorstep. As customers chose the mode, sellers improvised their marketing. A customer and his goods are never separated and an astute merchant sets up a suitable tryst, to mutual delight.
R Narayanan, Ghaziabad
