Few years ago a visionary came up with a splendid dream and revolutionized the telecomm industry. Mobiles within the reach of the common-man, with a very wise punch-line ‘karlo duniya muthhi mein’. No doubt it brought smile on many faces and possessing a mobile phone was no longer sumptuosity. But soon due to the flooding of mobile users, mobile services degraded. The irksome words ‘All routes are busy’ are heard more often. And the network congestion smeared the enthusiasm of consumers.
Last year, when the whole world said ‘no’, TATA said ‘NANO’. Avowedly, Nano became the cheapest car ever manufactured and revolutionised the automobile industry. It has fulfilled the dream of a common man to own a car at lucrative prices. But Mr Ratan Tata the business veteran skirted the voices, uttering NO, among the voices some were the environmentalists and social activists who really dreaded the future problems nano will lead to.
As only few more days to go before the first set of Nanos hit the road. Just looking into the future, say about, 1 year down the line. You are travelling to office perhaps by a bus or an auto. You are stuck in traffic on a busy arterial road. You look out of your window and you realize that the road is packed chock a block with Nanos. May be nanos in multitude colours. Well this is not baseless imagination but something that is definitely possible.
Even if 10 % of the current Indian population buys the Tata Nano which is quite possible considering the number of bookings, can you imagine the whopping number of Tata Nanos that would be there on the road? The current traffic system in all the metros and the Tier-I cities is one big problem. The Nano with its lucrative pricing and funding of loans from various banks will make the lower middle class salaried man to opt for the Nano instead of a motorbike making the situation even worse.
The Nano as a concept and a car is great as it has broken the psychological barrier of the U.S. $ 2500 price tag or Rs 1 lakh. It will be a boon for small farmers and small scale industry manufacturers who can also use it as a means to transport their produce. The big problem would be to tackle the traffic problem. Years of narrow-minded city-planning have made the roads of the country a bad joke. Increasing urbanization and uneven development of cities and towns with high density of population in pockets have made urban commuting a real pain.
In addition to the congestion and pollution threat ‘The people’s car’ will definitely enhance the challenge of oil prices hike as more cars on the planet mean more fuel consumption.
Possible suggestions to improve the situation would be to go for better infrastructure to build long-lasting roads, adoption of multi-tier parking lots. Along with the problem of traffic congestion, environmental pollution is a major issue. The Nano conforms to the latest pollution emission standards. To state that the Nano will be the sole cause of air pollution will be foolhardy. In a country where close to 100000 cars get sold every month the Nano will be one more car in the long list of cars available.
What we are looking at is an efficient green car. A car that runs on electricity or solar energy and can fit within a Rs 2 lakh budget. The future of the world lies in the efficient use of our natural resources and reducing our carbon footprints. It would be doubly great if Tata Motors can come out with an environment-friendly “green version” of the Nano.
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