Most motorists and pedestrians have become inured to the smell of diesel smoke on the city’s clogged arterial roads. With the increase in vehicular traffic and the felling of trees, air pollution has become a growing cause for concern.
Consider this, as of March 2015, there were 55 lakh vehicles registered in the city. By March 2016, the number had increased to 61 lakh. What’s more, between January and July 2016, the number of vehicles has increased by 4 lakh.
“There’s no avoiding air pollution, from trucks that enter the city to small goods/transport carriers and even cars sometimes. They all belch smoke and this shows that the owners do not care about emission norms,” says Rohini Rao, a resident of Kengeri.
In 2010, according to a six city source apportionment study in 2010 by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the total contribution of vehicles to the levels of NOx and PM 10 was 68 per cent and 42 per cent respectively.
According to Lakshman, Chairman of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, these figures have increased over the years. “I would peg the contribution of vehicular pollution to the overall levels around 50-55 per cent. However, we are commissioning a study to pinpoint the exact contribution by each source. In my opinion, vehicular pollution continues to be the single largest contributor,” he said.
From outdated vehicles to owners who do not bother to get their vehicles checked for air pollution to BMTC buses which are poorly maintained, the contribution of vehicles towards making our streets dirtier cannot be ignored.
Possible solution: Regular pollution check
In the past two years, the Transport Department and the government seem to have woken up to the dangers of allowing unfit vehicles on the roads. “We have introduced several measures, like continuous enforcement checks where we catch and fine those without pollution under control certificates as well as a checking mechanism which allows users to find out if the certificate issued to them is authentic. We have also started taking emission testing machines with us on our drives to record emission levels for both petrol and diesel vehicles,” said Gnanendra Kumar, Joint Commissioner Transport, Bengaluru Urban.
These checks are set to increase in the coming days. “We also audit the pollution under control certificate issuing centres regularly,” Mr. Kumar added.
Expert Speak
“Studies conducted in previous years show that vehicular emission contributes to more than 40% of PM 2.5 concentrations in Bengaluru. With more than 60 lakhs vehicles on the roads and alarming rate of increase of non transport vehicles (cars + two wheeler), contribution of vehicular emission to air pollution would only increase. Hence the way forward is to move people towards public transport systems by improving access and efficient road management and adopting a Clean Air Action Plan that would bring down air pollution by reducing pollution from all sources in a time bound manner,” says Nandikesh Sivalingam, Senior Campaigner, Greenpeace India.
Readers’ Mail
“I travel from Banashankari to Whitefield, and it takes me four hours to and fro. Silk Board junction is very famous for traffic. The other major issue is emission from BMTC buses and goods vehicles. If the government does not ensure that such public services don’t keep emission under check, how can rules be imposed on private vehicles? If one is next to a BMTC bus, the person is sure to choke,” says Sindhu, who works for an MNC.
“Pollution is reaching dangerous levels. It has taken a toll of my kid's health. I hope the government will extend metro services and also think about developing a sub-urban rail network. This would ensure people leave their vehicles behind and take less polluting means of transport,” says Priya M.
Social Media
Too much traffic. Too much sound and air pollution and too much to do with the way traffic works in Bengaluru
@TKARAN50
Bangalore is highly polluted due to heavy traffic
@AJAYYADAV7383
