Kakinada: Air pollution in the district is growing at an alarming rate due to increase in the number of vehicles. As many as 10.35 lakh vehicles hit the road daily.The increase in the usage of vehicles has led to consistent rise in air pollution levels, affecting environment in the district.
The dangerous gases emitted by vehicles like Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Benzyne and Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) are the prime cause of pollution,” said Consumer Welfare Association president D RamanaRaju.He said that currently, air pollution seemed to be a marginalised issue and the government authorities were mild in dealing with pollution issues.
He said that many vehicles emitted high levels of smoke despite possessing mandatory pollution certificates. Though periodical checks for air pollution were mandatory there was no mechanism for verifying the certificates and certification of standards of the agencies. Hence a verification mechanism was required, he added.
The increasing concentration of the matter in the air has a significant impact on environment and local biodiversity. The exceeding limits of these particulates in the air may lead to severe health hazards and also affect the environment,” said RamanaRaju.Experts too opine that there is a need to create awareness among the public on the usage of diesel vehicles, as diesel emits more hazardous gases than petrol.
The usage of petrol vehicles will reduce pollution to some extent. Also, the citizens need to be encouraged to opt the public transport system as it lessens fuel consumption by the private vehicles,” they added.
Speaking to The Hans India, Pollution Control Board (PCB) executive engineer D RavindraBabu said that they along with the Transport department were taking steps to ensure that the law was strictly enforced against polluting vehicles and their owners. However, he said that pollution levels were found to be within permissible limits.
When contacted, RTA and deputy transport commissioner P Krishna Mohana Rao said that the Transport department is insisting on pollution check for vehicles at the existing mobile pollution testing centres in the district. The department has made it mandatory for all vehicles to obtain emission check certificates issued every six months, he added.
He said that they were trying to reduce the pollution level caused by the vehicles by imposing fines when the violators are caught during surprise checks.
