Taking a serious view of the increasing air pollution levels in City and worried over contribution of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses to it, the Corporation has decided to rope in the services of Sarathi squads to keep tabs on drivers who keep the ignition switched on while waiting at the traffic signal beyond a minute-and-half.
Statistics reveal that by reducing the daily idling time of a single bus by 10 minutes, BMTC can save 100 litres of fuel per day which would translate into savings up to Rs 3 crore annually.
The present daily idling time for a BMTC bus on an average is 45 minutes. According to Chief Mechanical Engineer and General Manager (Technical) C G Anand: “We will be roping in Sarathi squad to keep a check on the drivers in order to ensure that they switch off the ignition if they have to wait for the signal to turn green for more than a minute and a half.
If it’s less than a minute there is no point switching off the vehicle as in that case to start it again will take in more diesel. Also, to create awareness about minimising pollution by our buses, we keep holding regular workshops with drivers. All buses of BMTC have to go in for a monthly pollution check. Even though under the Motor Vehicle Act, a pollution certificate is valid for six months, we get our buses checked monthly for the huge number of kilometers they cover.”
A long wait
The BMTC official said even though pipelines for bringing CNG to Bangalore have already been laid, there is no deadline for CNG pumps to start and therefore it could be a long wait before the buses actually start using CNG fuel.
BMTC’s seven Sarathi squads were in the past roped in to keep tabs on buses to ensure that they only ply on dedicated lanes and stop only at the bus stops without inconveniencing other commuters on the roads.
