On Saturday, about 500 students of various schools and colleges congregated on a road near forest park area to launch the awareness campaign. Each student held leaflets and placards urging people to refrain from using their personal vehicles on the last Sunday of a month.

"The city vehicle strength is increasing and if we need to free the road of motorized transport at least once a month. This will not only instill responsibility in the city denizens but also reduce the air pollution to a considerable extent," said Nrupesh Nayak, who leads the group.

He said unless urgently needed, people should not come out with their personal cars. "Since public transport system and ambulance services are operational on Sundays, people should try to not use their personal vehicles. We will continue to spread the message every month till we bring about some changes," said Nayak.

Two months ago, the group launched a cycle rally to start the campaign. They also initiated a signature campaign. "The city vehicle's strength has touched nearly eight lakh. The plying of vehicles on the city roads is also causing parking problems, as a result of which pedestrians are facing a lot of difficulties. So, our campaign has two-pronged approach and we hope this will make people more feel the need of minimizing the use of personal vehicles," said a member of the group Chhabindra Jena.

Earlier a private body conducted a survey to ascertain the whether motorized transport in the city was safe. The survey was conducted by taking opinions of 217 commuters, mostly pedestrians.

In July, the group launched a massive plantation drive across the city. They have formed a club called "Green World", where only nature lovers are members. "We planted 400 trees by fetching saplings from the forest department. Each member contributed Rs 5,000, which we spent on labour and maintenance," said Jena.