Need Fuel? Emission Certificate Please

Bengaluru: Karnataka's Pollution Control Board is looking at the option of denying Bengaluru's drivers fuel if their vehicles don't have up-to-date emission certificates.

"In Bengaluru, we are almost like a suffocated city...We have said that testing, emission testing, pollution testing has to be done at mass scales, especially by lorry associations, by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation and the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, all these agencies and also those who do not follow these instructions have to be denied fuel," said Dr Vaman Acharya, Chairperson of Karnataka's Pollution Control Board.

Dr Acharya hopes that this and other suggestions will be welcomed by road users, even if it means a bit more effort on their part.

"I think this is a good move by the government. I think in the future also, a lot more stringent rules should be implemented. This will bring down the air pollution and make the environment eco-friendly. It is good for the health of the citizen," said Jayawant, who was getting his car tested at a petrol station.  

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Another driver, Sam, agreed that it would be a good initiative. "Whether it works or not, that is left to be seen. It is everyone's responsibility to make sure emissions are low, and we don't pollute," said Sam.

Other measures being considered to clean up the city's air include, signal-free roads so traffic flow is faster and engines idle less, more buses so more people use public transport and banning vehicles that are more than 15 years old.

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Still, Dr Acharya thinks the real problem is the millions of vehicles on Bengaluru's roads. "Even I don't have a very clear idea about how it can be stopped.  Now, we've also asked the government to restrict the number of vehicles that are to be registered at Bangalore," he said.