Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore   

Special drive: 36 polluting vehicles detained in City

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE OCT. 9. The Transport Department, which has launched a special drive against air pollution caused by vehicles in Bangalore, on Wednesday detained 36 vehicles.

The department has said that action will also be taken against government vehicles which emit smoke in excess of the prescribed limit.

The drive has been launched by the department with the assistance of the City traffic police, the Food and Civil Supplies Department, and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB).

Forty squads, comprising personnel from the four agencies, have been formed. The drive is being conducted all over the State.

The Transport Commissioner, T. Thimme Gowda, told The Hindu that a severe penalty would be imposed on the owner of a polluting vehicle during the surprise check, even if a "pollution under control" (PUC) certificate had been issued in respect of the vehicle. The squad might detain the vehicle, he said.

On Wednesday, special squads, under the direction of the Joint Transport Commissioner (Enforcement-South), C.R. Mohammed Suleman, checked 213 vehicles and issued notices to owners of 36 vehicles, directing them to bring down the emission level. On Tuesday, Mr. Gowda told presspersons here that the number of vehicles increased from 15.83 lakh in 1991-92 to 25 lakh in 2001-02. In Bangalore, the number increased from 6.6 lakh to 16.5 lakh, he noted.

He said several steps had been taken by the department against the increasing air pollution, including setting up of computerised emission- testing centres, checking of vehicles by special squads, and a directive to petrol bunks to give fuel only to vehicles for which PUC certificates had been issued. Petrol bunks had been requested to set up computerised emission-testing centres to cater to the increasing number of vehicles, he added.

Mr. Gowda said the department had asked 46 emission-testing centres in Bangalore to computerise their operation in two months. As many as 121 centres had already been computerised, he added.

He said the department was encouraging autorickshaw and car owners to install LPG kits in their vehicles, as use of the fuel would help contain pollution.

Mr. Gowda added that autorickshaws would be registered in Bangalore only if they were fitted with LPG kits.

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