Dear Lokesh,
All of us cannot afford airconditioners. They tend to be expensive. But just supposing everyone could afford one, there would be two bills to pay. The first would, of course, be a gigantic electricity bill, IF electricity is available! Electricity has not even reached all parts of the country.

Besides, even a small airconditioner guzzles around 500 watts an hour — that's a lot of  electricity — and our country suffers a massive power shortfall. This is one of the reasons why dams like the Tehri or Narmada, which submerge forests and villages, are built. So, if everyone has an AC, perhaps there will be bigger, more ambitious and environmentally - destructive plans to supply us with more electricity.

This is the second bill you will have to pay. It may not give you the heart-attack which your electricity bill certainly will, but you could definitely come in for various forms of malignant (cancer-producing) skin cancer and cataracts caused by UV-B rays.

ACs use chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are responsible for destroying the delicate ozone layer that protects us from the sun's harmful ultra-violet (UV-B) rays. A few new models have stopped using CFC-producing gases, but most have not.

As Panditji, I am saying that there be many less destructive ways to keeping cool. Why not ask your grandparents how? Also please be noting how badly houses are being built — all higgledy-piggledy — with no passage for natural breeze and light to be passing.

Dear Neha,

In 1991 and 1994, the European Environment Council and European Commission made some rules which put limits on how much different types of vehicles would be allowed to pollute within the European Union, a group of 15 European nations. Standards were set for the amount of carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), hydrocarbon (HC) and particulate matter a vehicle could produce. Definite dates have been given, by which all the vehicles had to obey the standards. These emission norms are collectively known as EURO I. Even stricter were the standards of EURO II which were to be obeyed by 1998. In India, only the Daewoo Matiz and Hyundai Santro meet the EURO II standards.

Even more interestingly, our very own Maruti Udyog Limited was producing cars meeting EURO II emission standards all along, but only for export to these countries! Nice to know how high we, as Indians, are on their list of   priorities, isn’t it ?!

Well, if you think that EURO II is the end, then watch out, because EURO III and IV are just around the corner to be complied with by 2000 and 2005 AD respectively. Each European Union country has to obey these rules.