Air pollution is an exponential concern and eco-activists are calling upon the state government to ban vehicles that are more than 15 years old. At the moment, fitness certificates are issued to vehicles without a foolproof screening process, which has only added to the trouble. However, others argue that this will have a negative impact on those who depend on their vehicles to make a living. Is a ban on polluting vehicles the answer to the pollution problem? Or is it time vehicle manufacturers brought in more eco-friendly technology, asks Nikhil Gangadhar.
If Bengaluru’s traffic is a much talked about subject, so is its air pollution, which is increasing by the day. Contributing to the poor air quality over the city are the large number of vehicles on its roads besides its industries.
Being confronted with a similar situation, the capital of the country, Delhi is said to be considering banning vehicles that are more than 15 –years- old on its roads by next year. Seeing that Bengaluru is heading the Delhi way in terms of bad air quality, the time may have come to address the issue of taking 15- year- old vehicles off its roads too, say eco activists, regretting that despite the issue being discussed by the previous government, nothing has come of it.
Read | Guest column: Issuing ‘fitness certificate’ needs rigorous process
They also note with concern that although there was talk about banning two-stroke autorickshaws early this year, the proposal has not made headway with the government failing to increase the subsidy given to auto owners to buy four-stroke vehicles from the present Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000.
It is not a small concern as going by the transport department, of the 74.05 lakh vehicles on the city’s roads, 16.30 lakh are over 15-years-old. Surprisingly, most of these vehicles are issued fitness certificates (FC) by the Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) despite their wear and tear. Green activists are up in arms against this practice when these vehicles are known to emit toxic pollutants into the air. “There is a flaw in the system that needs to be set right,” they stress.
But rising to the defence of the RTOs, a senior transport officer claims they are often fooled into issuing the fitness certificates for the old vehicles as their owners make sure to come to them immediately after they are serviced as their emissions are not as foul at this time. “ So our readings of these vehicles are good enough to issue them a fitness certificate. The emissions only increase as the vehicles continue to run. So we need to bring in a stronger mechanism to check the old vehicles,” he agrees, adding that the transport department should carry out surprise checks to weed out vehicles spouting harmful emissions.
“Diesel vehicles have more harmful emissions than those running on petrol. But either way, heavy vehicles are releasing toxic elements into the air,” he concedes.
Meanwhile, an official of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), laments that although it has been sending reports to the state government for the past three or four years warning about the decrease in the city’s air quality, no action has been taken. “We have told the government clearly that the old vehicles are not checked properly and are emitting toxic gases into the air, which will result in poor air quality in coming years,” he says, strongly suggesting that the city should learn from Delhi’s experience with air pollution.
“If precautions are not taken now, we will also be in a similar soup in a couple of years. Quick action needs to be taken against the old vehicles, which emit fumes beyond the permissible limit. We will advise the present government too to ban old vehicles and hopefully, it will listen,” he says.
Ban will impact drivers of cabs, lorries, trucks
The state has around 1.93 vehicles of which 45 lakh are over 15-years- old. If the Union or Karnataka government brings in a policy to ban old vehicles, they will all have to go off the roads. But the idea is unacceptable to taxi, lorry and truck drivers as it could affect their livelihoods.
Says Mr Radhakrishna Holla, president of thje Bengaluru Tourist Taxi Owners’ Association, “If the government tries to ban old vehicles, it will be difficult for thousands of people whose livelihood depends on them. The owners will have to shell out more money to buy new vehicles with the old hardly fetching them anything. We agree that the air quality is deteriorating, but the government should take other necessary steps to deal with this. For instance, it could ban vehicles with emissions beyond permissible limits. How are RTOs issuing them fitness certificates even now? There are loopholes within the system which needs to be fixed.”
In his view, it is wrong to only blame old vehicles for the air pollution as he believes the government too is responsible as it has failed to provide better quality fuel and road infrastructure or maintain proper green cover. “ It has compromised on all of this. Only in the last two years have we become Euro 4 efficient where our vehicle emissions are concerned. Before that we were Euro 3,” he points out.
Mr Holla suggests that before the government bans old vehicles giving off toxic emissions, it should set up proper scrapping yards with the required machinery and storage space, as otherwise the process of scrapping the vehicles will itself cause pollution. “For example, the oil parts in the vehicles need to be scrapped in a different way without spillage. Similarly, the leather and other materials used in the vehicles need to be dismantled and scrapped according to certain procedures,” he explains.
Mr Munikrishna Swamy, who owns private buses, believes that before the government bans old vehicles, the RTOs should ban private emission test centres that issue them fitness certificates without proper checking. “Also, government vehicles which are guilty of toxic emissions, should be removed immediately. But there is no one to question the officials responsible for all of this and all they want to do is target the livelihood of people who are helpless. We drivers cannot afford new vehicles due to the GST and other issues. We cannot take loans either because we are already in debt,” he says, adding, “We are aware that air pollution is increasing. But let the government find better solutions and then think about scrapping old vehicles.”
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