The government should set up an air pollution monitoring station in the city to monitor vehicular pollution in addition to the existing one for monitoring industrial air pollution at Baikampady, according to Anti Pollution Drive Foundation, a registered body.
Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, founder Abdullah A. Rehman said that the foundation, which was registered about two months ago, had been creating awareness among the people to mitigate air pollution, especially vehicular pollution. He said that currently, air pollution seemed to be a marginalised issue and the government authorities were mild in dealing with pollution issues. The Transport Department and the Pollution Control Department officials should ensure that the law was strictly enforced against polluting vehicles and their owners.
Mr. Rehman said that many vehicles emitted high levels of smoke despite possessing mandatory pollution certificates. Though periodical checks for air pollution were mandatory there was no mechanism for verifying the certificates and certification of standards of the agencies. Hence a verification mechanism was required, he added.
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He said that people should come forward to promote car pooling system in the city. This is especially required for Mangaluru-Deralakatte-Konaje-Mudipu route where a number of doctors, teachers, students and IT employees travel. An app-based car pooling system would be both practical and highly beneficial.
He said that college transport system and corporate transport system should be streamlined to allow for omni-buses (dedicated company buses or college buses) and reduce individual vehicles.
Mr. Rehman said that citizens should not allow air pollution to become a major problem like in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
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He said that traffic density in Mangaluru was exceeding its carrying capacity of infrastructure in the city.