Symbiosis International University 2008 SNAP - Question Paper

Many car owners in the West take public transport to work since parking space downtown is costly and scarce. We should levy parking fees on an hourly, not daily, basis. Rs. 10 per hour could be a starting point in the metros. In parts of Tokyo, you cannot own a car unless you own a private parking space. This is too extreme for India, but shows the future path. If we charge owners the full social cost of parking, people will buy smaller and perhaps fewer vehicles, and fewer still will take them to work. That will slash congestion and pollution. Cities should levy stiff annual taxes on vehicles, not a one-time tax, and use the revenue to constantly expand public transport and roads. This will create economic synergy: Private transport will finance public transport. London and New York have high density public transport as well as high car density. Apart from underground rail, cities need elevated roads to ease congestion and pollution. Lata Mangeshkar helped kill a proposal for an elevated road near her Mumbai flat: perhaps she felt her throat and singing would be affected. She did not care that the throats of poor people residing on the pavements were far worse affected by fumes, and might get relief if a few fumes were diverted to a higher level. What elitism! Next, a few medicine that will be really bitter, politically. The excise duty on all automotive vehicles should be raised to reflect their social costs. Fuel subsidies should be abolished. Price differentials ranging from petrol, diesel and kerosene should be removed, ending incentives for adulteration. Diesel cars should bear a heavy additional cess to finance improve healthcare for those affected by their emission of harmful particulate matter. That is a long, politically difficult agenda. Only part of it will ever be achieved. Yet that is the way to go, rather than agitate the Nano.
6. By =Sanctimonious greens‘ the author refers to
a. aristocratic environmentalists
b. the rich
c. environmentalists with a =holier than thou‘ attitude
d. those who decry deforestation
7. The elite are
a. jealous of Nano owners
b. afraid of traffic jams and depletion of fossil fuel
c. afraid of reaching their destinations late
d. full of disdain that the poor can afford cars
8. The paradox of the situation is that
a. bigger cars mean more fuel, more space and more pollution
b. though India has fewer cars the Nano will bring more pollution
c. London and New York have more cars and less pollution

Earning:   Approval pending.