Vehicle emissions

IGP Victor Perera had made a disclosure that is only all too well known. Speaking at a Police passing out parade the IGP stated that a sizable number of his men from the Traffic Police have developed respiratory ailments resulting from the constant inhaling of noxious vehicle emissions.

This is certainly an admission that offenders are calling the shots and that the police have remained helpless.

Why has action not been taken against vehicle users who pollute the air when there are laws to deal with such offenders?

This is certainly a serious development that could not only cast a question mark on the fitness of policemen at a time they need to be in their robust best to tackle the new challenges confronting them. It could also have a debilitating effect of the entire police force to know that nothing could be done to arrest the problem.

There is no premium that could be placed on the fitness and health of our guardians of the law if they are to render an efficient service to the public.

An ailing police force would not only be a huge impediment to efficiency but also sap morale affecting the high alertness and vigilance demanded of policemen in the present context.

Today the pitiable position of our Traffic policemen could be seen by the fact that they wear handkerchief masks covering the lower part of their faces to ward off noxious vehicle fumes. This, when they should be rounding up the offending vehicles and booking their owners. A more hilarious situation could not be envisaged involving our guardians of the law.

During the latter stages of the 77-94 UNP regime there were moves to clamp down on belching vehicles following expert reports pointing to mounting disease associated with smoke inhalation on the highways. Smoke meters too were imported. Other than a scandal over the purchases nothing was seen of these smoke meters.

The authorities issued a March deadline for all vehicles owners to confirm to guidelines of the Lead content in their vehicle emissions. But this deadline is now gone and we still see rickety old jalopies chugging away issuing black clouds of polluted air into the atmosphere causing grave health risks to the public.

What the IGP should do is get his men to confront the situation head on. Instead he should order them to round up all vehicles not confirming to emission guidelines and hound them off the roads.

This would not only find the answer to the health problems of the Traffic policemen but also ease the strain on the Government’s health budget spent to treat diseases caused by air pollution.

The UFO question

Do UFOs really exist? The expanded question, of course, is whether there is intelligent life in celestial bodies other than the Earth. We ask these timeless questions in the light of yet another UFO incident.

A number of Policemen in the UK claim to have given chase to a UFO that almost collided with their helicopter. Their account cannot be dismissed out of hand as they are hardened professionals with excellent vision and track records. Though darkness was creeping in, weather conditions have been otherwise perfect at that time.

“They are convinced it was a UFO. It sounds far-fetched, but they know what they saw. These guys are hardened professionals,” a Police spokesman told a British newspaper which reported the incident.

This is just one among the many UFO sightings reported from around the world. Are they warp-speed space cruisers of far more advanced civilisations that live elsewhere in this vast universe? Are they advanced beings journeying through space a la USS Enterprise, looking for habitable planets?

It appears impossible that we could be alone in such a vast universe. Astronomers have discovered plenty of Earth-sized planets elsewhere in our galaxy and the rest of the universe. After all, life as we know it requires only a few building blocks and the right conditions to emerge. So the chances are that there could be other advanced civilisations all over the universe.

In that case, why haven’t they bothered to contact us directly without just flying by? Some scientists believe that we are still too primitive on a cosmic scale to justify such physical contact. But we are listening, should they broadcast over the celestial airwaves.

The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is scanning all cosmic radio sounds for any sign of intelligence. Any success on this front will solve one of the greatest mysteries in the universe.