Bhubaneswar, Dec. 23: The regional transport office has decided to intensify its drive to check vehicular pollution in the city because this accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the city's total air pollution.
The RTO is keen to ensure that vehicles plying in the city conform to pollution norms.
The quality of air in the city has been worsening by the day and now hovers around 213 micrograms against the normal count of 100 micrograms.
The transport department had intensified its crackdown on polluting vehicles forcing residents to rush to the nearest pollution testing centres to obtain pollution under control certificates for their vehicles.
But lately, only a few vehicles are being checked for pollution at the 10 testing centres around the city. The city has more than 10 lakh vehicles and around 1,000 are being added every day. According to section 190 of the Motor Vehicles Act, it is mandatory to a obtain pollution under control (PUC) certificate every six months. The certificate is issued to vehicles that are non-polluting.
"Since the traffic police as well as the regional transport office have not been conducting pollution control checks, people have become complacent," said environment scientist Amarendra Parida, adding that whenever checks are conducted, the focus is mainly on four-wheelers. "Two-wheelers also contribute significantly to air pollution in the city and should be checked for pollution control certificates on a regular basis."
The Bhubaneswar smart city vision includes a less-polluted environment for the city's residents.
"Several autorickshaws can be seen violating pollution norms in the city by using kerosene as fuel. The same goes for two-wheelers that are more than 20 years old," said R.C. Mohanty, 70, a medicine specialist and resident of VSS Nagar.
He said the authorities must ensure that the norms were stricter for old vehicles.
Last year this time, serpentine queues of vehicles could be seen at pollution checking centres in the city. Despite the fact that such certificates were meant to be renewed every six months, some motorists do not bother to obtain the same.
Sam Behera, 37, owner of a pollution-testing centre at Jharapada, said hardly five or six vehicles get checked for pollution at his centre every day. He said most of his customers were commercial vehicle drivers. Behera said very few two-wheeler owners visit his centre.
A transport department official said the pollution under control certificate was mandatory for all vehicles plying in Bhubaneswar.
"The drive to check the same would be intensified and people who have not obtained the certificate would be penalised," he said.
Bhubaneswar deputy police commissioner Satyabrat Bhoi said the traffic police too would be asked to conduct checks on vehicles.
Patha Utsav
The Prince Dance Group of India's Got Talent fame, will be the star attraction at Patha Utsav at Janpath in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. Among other attractions for this week's event are robotics display by a group of children from Houston, United States and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Khurda.
