After having toured the district for raising awareness on optimal-driving practices to reduce air pollution, the Regional Transport Office (RTO) observed the culmination of the month-long ‘Air pollution awareness programme’ here on Saturday.
At the programme, emphasis was laid on frequent emission testing of vehicles, avoiding overspeeding, ensuring use of clean fuels by testing petrol of diesel through a filter paper at petrol stations, and switching off the engine during traffic signals.
Between April to October, RTO authorities have already filed cases against 627 vehicles for not possessing emission certificates and collected a fine of around Rs. 2.36 lakh. This is an upward trend compared to 1,023 vehicles that were fined Rs. 2.75 lakh in the 12-month period starting April 2013, said G.S. Hegde, Assistant Regional Transport Officer.
However, he admitted that the RTO was short on staff to enforce stricter checking of vehicles. "There is also the issue of the low number of emission centres. Mangaluru RTO has around 4.39 lakh vehicles registered under it. However, there are barely 32 emission centres in the city," he said.
In the past month, RTO officials had imparted training in Mulki, Kinnigoli, Moodbidri, B.C. Road, Vittal, among taxi drivers of the city.
