Ok, so we all pretty much know that pollution is happening. We all are aware that air quality is bad in India (in fact, 13 out of top 15 cities with worst air quality are in India). But we are waiting. Perhaps, for some miracle to happen, or for perhaps a loud & clear war cry from pollution that now you actually need to do something about it, or IT WILL KILL YOU OR YOUR KIDS.
Also, pollution is not limited to air (as mistaken by a lot in India). The amount of noise pollution created by incessant honking, non standard silencers is nothing short of traumatizing. But somehow we are happy, as the NVH levels in our car are pretty impressive.
Unlike this, bikes & e-bikes are silent. Also, being extremely agile, bicycles & e-bikes keep moving even in the worst of jams. Imagine how simple it would be if there are more e-bikes on the road than cars. Everything moving (or gliding rather) silently, with lesser jams.
As Indian economy keeps on opening up, more & more car manufacturers are entering India. For them, India is the huge market that everybody wants a share of. Just imagine, a country of over 1.3 billion people and yet we have just 3 homegrown car manufacturers (TATA, Maruti, Mahindra. and these two riding over technology from foreign partners). While companies like Skoda (coming from tiny countries in Europe) sell excellent cars & eat up our roads.
Thing is, these car companies manipulate on our dream of owning a car, regarding little for our actual need. Easy EMIs, fancy showrooms & home delivered services have made sure we buy more cars. Use them as much as possible & then buy some more.
As much as it may sound like, I am not against cars. Cars are a nice things to have. They make a lot of sense when going out with friends or family. But do you need to drive them daily to your workplace, specially when you can bike or ride an electric 2 wheeler & be a change, is my question.