In places around the world a consciousness of environment is prompting many cities into ecologically friendly measures. In Copenhagan, with cycles available for free, most Copenhageners happily choose the non-polluting option. An ingenious system of cycle tracks grids the entire town, connecting every major landmark and district. You merely feed 10-kroner into a public cycle slot machine, and the 2-wheeler is yours for the day. Ride around the city, gliding along waterways, through parks, into shopping districts, and when you’ve had enough, just return the cycle to a nearby cycle lot and get your 10-kroner back. No charge. In the morning while Indian roads create a gridlock of stationary traffic in rush hour, a business executive in Copenhagan is cycling along a duck pond on his way to office.

Naturally, in a country with a per capita income less than the US per capita expenditure on cola, it is hard to justify a lifestyle change on ecological grounds. The Indian city may be overrun by cars, but no respectable Indian is about to give up his shiny piece of metal, just because the five tons of carbon dioxide it produces every year, is the indirect cause of his daughter’s asthma, his son’s eye infection. Having spent a lifetime of savings on the car, a bicycle substitute is a slur on his roadmap to success.

A recent estimate on global energy distribution stated that 40 per cent of the world’s energy is consumed by buildings — both for construction and subsequent use. An alarming statistic such as this should be enough to get the government to adopt a rational policy on green architecture. Yet little effort is being made in that direction. Many recent buildings follow Western models of ‘green architecture’ and make perfunctory overtures to ecology. An adaptation of American standards of ‘greenness’ in India is as good as using the American family as a reliable benchmark for world consumption.

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