Plumes of smoke being emitted through the exhaust, and yet the motorist produces a “valid” emission certificate.
Faced with situations such as this, besides lack of monitoring of air pollution from vehicles, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has launched mobile monitoring to crack down on smoke-spewing vehicles.
On Wednesday, the State government launched 12 vehicles fitted with equipment to monitor three categories of vehicular pollutants: smoke density from diesel vehicles; and carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons in petrol vehicles. Of the 12, eight will be posted to check the growing vehicular population in Bengaluru, while one each will be deployed in Mysuru, Mangaluru, Dharwad and Kalaburagi.
Vehicular emissions cause more than 42 per cent of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter pollution in the city, and more than two-thirds of the nitrous dioxide emissions.
