RTA, police to check air pollution

• Plans are drawn to scrap vehicles which are more than 15-year-old
• The enforcement officials are to acquire a small device, the size of breath analyser, to test the amount of hazardous smoke being emitted by vehciles

Hyderabad: Inspired by the Delhi government’s move to curb air pollution, the Hyderabad City Police are planning to launch a new system to get rid of highly polluting vehicles in and around Hyderabad.

In a study conducted by the Regional Transport Authority and Hyderabad Traffic Police, it was identified that the major contributors of air pollution are RTC buses, heavy goods vehicles and also auto-rickshaws and most of them are unfit to ply on roads and are over 15-year-old.

The officials of the RTA and the police have come up with an idea to scrap the vehicles if they are repeatedly caught for emission of hazardous smoke and also the vehicles that are playing on roads after 15 years of their registration.

A new device is being acquired by the enforcing departments that can read and generate a report on the amount of hazardous emission by a particular vehicle. The device will be connected to the servers of RTA and Traffic police to build a database on the vehicles.

“The existing pollution checking systems used by several private persons approved by RTA are not satisfactory. The new device, which is about the size of a breathe analyser, will help in reading the amount of pollution being emitted by a vehicle, when it is inserted in the silencer,” an official from Traffic department said.

The officer said there are over 34 lakh vehicles in Hyderabad. About 1.5 lakh among them are auto-rickshaws. There is huge increase in number of vehicles playing in city and the number will increase more. Air pollution will turn out to be the most severe problem if measures to control it are not taken.

Punjagutta and Charminar areas have been identified as affected by air pollution. Over 30 such areas have been identified which may become gas chambers if preventive measures are not taken. If a vehicle is caught during the pollution drive, it will be detained until the owner of vehicle undertakes necessary assurances for controlling the smoke emission.

And if the vehicle is caught twice, it will be seized and scrapped, the officer said. The RTA officials have also responded positively to implement the new system in Hyderabad, he said.

“We have sought legal opinion to implement the new system. Necessary amendments will be made in the MV Act if needed,” the officer added.