Mumbai, A collective of prominent scientists, academicians, and activists has urged the government to halt the E20 fuel rollout, scrap the National Testing Agency, and enact a nationwide anti-black magic law, calling for public policies to be guided by scientific evidence.
The appeal was signed by scientists and activists, including Padma Bhushan awardee Prof M S Raghunathan of CEBS, Mumbai; SSB awardee Prof S G Dani, president of Breakthrough Science Society; Prof. Aniket Sule, HBCSE-TIFR; Prof B M Arora, University of Mumbai and former TIFR; Dr N Krishnan, former TIFR; and Anil Kumar Singh, secretary, Mumbai Press Club.
Demanding an immediate suspension of the E20 fuel policy, the group highlighted the lack of a comprehensive lifecycle environmental assessment and supporting infrastructure, while warning that diverting water-intensive food crops for biofuel production threatens food security and depletes groundwater reserves. The Opposition parties, especially the Aam Aadmi Party and the Shiv Sena , have also been critical of the government’s E20 fuel policy. Linking policy choices to the broader climate crisis, the scientists voiced concern over extreme weather events, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, ecosystem collapse and accelerating species extinction.
