BENGALURU: In a bid to avert a situation like the one we’re seeing in New Delhi right now, the Karnataka state government is contemplating implementing the odd-even rule in Bengaluru. Last weekend, home minister Ramlinga Reddy said that after consulting with experts, they would consider using the formula here as well.
This got City Express wondering whether Bengaluru is in need of implementing this.Dr Lakshmikanth, state member, awareness, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), sheds light on the matter but says that no official studies have been conducted on this yet.
“Odd-even is a good step in controlling air pollution, and I would personally welcome the move. It will reduce PM (particulate matter) 2.5 – pollutants that measure 2.5 micrometers or less – concentration levels. If vehicles contribute 20 per cent of PM 2.5, and cars account for 10 per cent of that, then all cars combined account for 2-3 per cent of PM 2.5 pollutants, with diesel cars contributing even smaller amounts,” says Lakshmikanth.
This, he says, is quite less, since we will not reach a situation like Delhi’s as the geographical conditions are different. “We have good wind speed here, where chances of creating a pollutant blanket are less. However, if we want to maintain the ‘green city’ tag and reduce air pollution, of which 43 per cent is contributed by the transportation system, we can reduce this by 20 per cent if we implement odd-even.”
‘Public transport must improve’
While experts agree that odd-even will help in reducing congestion on the roads, they also say that public transport needs to improve drastically to help reduce pollution in the city. “Severe air pollution can be reduced in different ways, and a small step is the odd-even rule. This rule could be an inconvenience for the public, so the government should create efficient alternatives. The number of buses and frequency of Metro trains should be increased, footpaths need to well-maintained so that people don’t mind walking short distances,” says Suneel Dahiya, a campaigner for Greenpeace working on the Clean Air Nation campaign.
He adds, “Bio-waste also needs to be managed. Construction and real estate should take a back seat. If these things are taken care of before the odd-even rule is implemented, then the public would not mind practicing it.” Lakshmikanth also agrees that number of bogeys need to be added to Namma Metro, and before implementing such rules, there needs to be preperation and better coordination between the police and transport departments.
‘Construction dust major pollutant in Bengaluru’
An expert working in transport and development policy who does not wish to be named says that the odd-even rule has not worked in most of the cities where it has been tried. While it can be seen as a temporary solution, such interventions don’t really work unless and until the context of that particular city is looked into. “Bengaluru’s characteristics are completely different from that of Delhi’s.
Transportation contributes to a fifth of the total pollution. Construction on the outskirts of the city can be directly related to rise in the dust levels,” he says, adding that the city is seeing a rapid growth in vehicles, but most of these are two-wheelers. Unless the odd-even rule includes two-wheelers, not much will come out of implementing this here.
He says that public transport, especially BMTC, needs to improve here. When City Express tried getting in touch with R Hithendra, additional commissioner of police (traffic) and B Dayananda, commissioner for transport and road safety, they were not available to comment on the matter.