BENGALURU: Hold your breath! Your vehicle’s Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate could well be a piece of fiction. A reality check at five emission testing centres in the city to check the pollution level of a diesel vehicle (Chevrolet Tavera, 2006 model) threw up a shocking find — five different results for the same vehicle.
While a pollution testing centre at HAL 2nd Stage, functioning on a footpath, recorded the vehicle’s Hartridge Smoke Unit (HSU) at 1.17, another centre in Jeevan Bima Nagar registered a much higher reading at 9.03. At an emission testing centre in Banashankari 2nd Stage, the HSU of the vehicle was recorded as 4.68, while at another one at Bellandur on Outer Ring Road showed 4.97. In JP Nagar 2nd Phase, the emission testing centre recorded result as 7.85 HSU.
A PUC certificate can be issued to diesel vehicles only with a smoke density less than 65 HSU. While ‘0’ HSU means smoke is invisible, 100 HSU stands for thick and opaque smoke.
Most motorists rush to emission testing centres to get the emission level checked of fear of being booked for violation of emission norms but are unaware of the authenticity of the PUC certificates issued by these centres. This also defeats the purpose of PUC certificates and rules. The city is already choking because of rise in air pollution.
It was also found that some emission testing centres, operating without adequate infrastructure, are issuing fake certificates for vehicles that cause heavy pollution. A staffer at one of the centres in south Bengaluru told a vehicle owner who came to get a PUC certificate that his car’s emission levels are high but he gave a certificate that showed it is under permissible limits.
“If I don’t give the PUC certificate, then the vehicle owner will get a PUC certificate from another centre” said a staffer in an emission centre.
Another operator in an emission testing centre said, “If the readings are above permissible limits, then I advise the vehicle owners to get it serviced. But most vehicle owners, particularly commercial vehicles, would rather pay double the price for a certificate.”
Many owners say PUC certificate is cheaper than getting the vehicle serviced. “I don’t want to pay fines for not having a PUC certificate. But it will cost more than `70,000 to get it serviced to reduce the emission level. Transport Department and traffic police officials only check whether I have a PUC certificate,” says K Ashok, who owns a 15-year-old commercial vehicle.
Sources say some emission centres also issue certificates even if the vehicle is not brought to the testing centre. Many staffers are unqualified and untrained as most centres are not willing to pay more than `7,000 a month as salary. All they know is to take picture of the registration number plate, insert the analyser into the vehicle silencer, asking the owner to start the engine and record the readings.
A senior Transport Department official said several vehicles plying on roads emit dark smoke but still have PUC certificates. “During surprise checks recently, we found several vehicles emitting heavy smoke but having PUC certificates.”
When contacted, Transport Commissioner B Dayananda said they are regularly conducting inspections on emission testing centres. “We will verify the complaint and take action against centres that are issuing fake PUC certificates,” he added.
