Pravin D Shiriyannavar

The Transport Department recently flagged off a ‘courtesy month’ in the City to create some awareness among citizens about vehicles, pollution, etc. Given the multiplicity of vehicles on the roads and the absence of road and traffic sense, how far will this drive succeed?

Major contributors to noise pollution include buses, lorries, vehicles with shrill horns and autorickshaws, some of which ply without (or with altered) sound mufflers in the silencers, apparently for better speed and mileage! While Bangaloreans with their ‘swalpa adjust maadi’ attitude have simply learnt to put up with such noise, visitors feel the autos are noisy and irritating.

Adulterated fuel used by the auto drivers does not burn the fuel completely and leaves a residue of unburned hydrocarbon which chokes the silencers and reduces the performance of the vehicle.

Ramesh H, a mechanic at Shivajinagar says, since auto drivers usually run hired vehicles, they mix kerosene to petrol which is economical. To curb such practices, the government allowed use of chemicals with kerosene meant for auto consumption (popularly known as blue kerosene). However, this fuel is known to cause damage to the engine, but continues to be used as most drivers can’t afford petrol, Ramesh said.

According to S B Rao, an engineer at the Bajaj Research and Development Centre, Pune, autos which roll out of the manufacturing units produce noise in accordance with levels permitted under the Central Motor Vehicles Act, while those fitted with modified silencers produce about three times more noise.

The modified silencers, which are locally made and go by the reference ‘dolly silencers’, are easily available in City Market area. Ram Murthy a shop owner here says, these modifiers have turned out to be very economical. However, they have contributed greatly to the noise levels in the City.

Bangalore is believed to be experiencing six times more noise than permitted levels and authorities are contemplating mandatory noise emission tests.
Meanwhile, the Transport Department is gearing up to tackle increasing noise pollution. Tran-sport Commissioner I M Vittal Murthy admitted that the police are not equipped with devices to detect the extra noise produced by vehicles.

“The RTO checks the vehicles for modified silencers during their permit renewals. The drivers use the normal silencers at that time and change it later. The noise on the roads, hampers the process to check any extra noise. The only option is to educate the drivers and I think such programmes will change the mindset of the offenders.”

He noted that the reason why the present campaign stresses on public participation is because campaigns only by the government don’t have the targetted impact.

A large number of NGOs, student unions, NSS, NCC cadets, artists and celebrities will lend their support. An oath to protect the environment will be administered to school and college students, apart from several competitions.
“With our slogan ‘I love my Bangalore and I will keep it clean’, we hope to create a strong enough impact on violators to mend their ways,” he said.

The last day of the ‘courtesy month’ will witness a human chain by students and volunteers on the Outer Ring Road. Fifty artists from ‘Parisarakkagi Kalavidaru’ have started painting environment-related themes and slogans on BMTC and KSRTC buses. Twenty-five police squads at strategic points will impose mild penalties on traffic violators in the first week and heavier fines from the second week onwards.