BENGALURU: The Pollution Control Board and the officials concerned will have to start all over again on creating awareness to reduce air pollution in Bengaluru, with the government-backed initiative —’Less Traffic Day’ — too failing to gain momentum. Earlier, ‘Bus Day’ and ‘Open Street’ initiatives, launched with much fanfare to promote use of public transport in the city, had failed to yield desired results.
Launched in February this year, the Less Traffic Day initiative was aimed at creating awareness among citizens on using public transport and reducing the number of vehicles on the city’s arterial roads. The enthusiasm around the campaign, which was to be observed on the second Sunday of every month, however, fizzled out soon.
According to statistics compiled by Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), the transport sector with 72 lakh vehicles, including 65.5 lakh non-transport vehicles, contributed to nearly 42% of the city’s total air pollution load.
A senior officer in Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) who did not want to be identified, told The New Indian Express that ‘Less Traffic Day’ was launched ahead of the assembly elections and was a mere political gimmick. “Without ensuring last-mile connectivity, we cannot force public to use public transport,’’ the officer said.
KSPCB chairman Lakshman had recently revealed that on February 11—the day of the launch, air pollution had dipped by 26% in the city. “The board had arrived at the conclusion after comparing data collected with the help of ambient air quality monitoring stations installed in and around the city,’’ an official said.
KSPCB had observed a similar decrease in air pollution by 11% during ‘Bus Day’ campaign launched on February 4, 2010. But all these campaigns failed to gain popularity among the public.
Associate professor in department of civil engineering at IISc, Ashish Verma, said such awareness campaigns should be backed by a policy. “Without policy backing, awareness campaigns will not be translated into reality and integrated in day-to-day practices,’’ said Verma, who is also the president of Transport Research Group of India.