HYDERABAD: The pollution under control (PUC) system, that issues certificates after checking for vehicular emissions against the standard pollution norms, do not screen for several major harmful pollutants, claim experts. They say that the current PUC certification warrants an upgrade to be able to detect other key pollutants that are causing harm to both humans and the environment.
The PUC certification, issued by the RTO, is done to measure pollutants emitted by vehicles. At present, it only measures the percentage of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (in parts per million) and has no checks for other key pollutants like particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and Sulphur Dioxide (SO2).
Speaking to Express, executive director of the Centre for Science and Environment Anumita Roy Choudhury said, "The PUC test was designed for the older generation’s vehicular technology. It is a very simple test which only detects a few pollutants. But with accessibility to better technology, like Bharat Stage VI -- which is set to be effective from April 2020 -- there is a need to revamp in the existing PUC certification system."
Under the recently approved National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), that has been taken up by the city, PM and NOx have been identified as key pollutants. However, the PUCs do not detect these key pollutants. Elaborating on the tail pipe emissions, director of a city-based startup that converts diesel/fuel cars into electric cars Ashhar Ahmed Shaikh, said, "Motor vehicle engine emits many types of pollutants, including NOx, VOCs, CO, CO2, PMs, SO2 and lead. These are called tail pipe emissions that contribute to the overall air pollution."
"In Hyderabad, there are a lot of areas with narrow lanes. As the vehicles end up spending more time on these lanes, the emission of harmful gases is more. This is why there is a need to keep a better check on vehicular pollution," said city-based climate change expert Sagar Dhara.
Claiming that the current monitoring system was archaic, Anumita added that there was a need for an advanced on-road pollution detection monitoring system. “To measure NOx, the vehicles are required to be at a certain speed.
This can be done if we send these vehicles for an annual health check-up at specialised centres.” Speaking about alternatives for the detection of key pollutants, she added, “We are looking at remote sensing devices that can be placed on the roadside. These devices will be able to detect the most polluting vehicles on the road.”
New system to be tamper-proof
As of now, it is easier for anyone to obtain a false PUC certification for Rs 100-200 in the city. "The current PUC system is manual, due to which anyone can manipulate it to produce a fake PUC certificate with a bribe. To stop this, we have developed a digitised and centralised system, which will be launched in a month," said C Ramesh, Joint Transport Commissioner.
Stating that the system will be tamper-proof, he said, "The pollution levels recorded by the device now will now directly be uploaded on the online system. Only if the standards are met will a PUC certificate will be generated."