Bengaluru will join Delhi in rolling out BS-6 emission norms

A steady rise in air pollution has prompted Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and other stakeholders to implement Bharat Stage-6 emission norms in Bengaluru along with Delhi in April.

The Board and other concerned authorities have now asked the state government to announce the decision during the ongoing Budget Session of the Assembly.

Bharat Stage-6 is part of the emission standards the Government of India has instituted to regulate polluting substances emanating from vehicle engines. The norms have been made steadily stringent over the years of its implementation at various stages.

The decision to implement BS-6 was taken at a meeting on Monday between officials of KSPCA, transport department, Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited, police, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Bangalore Development Authority, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Public Works Department, Housing Board and Directorate of Municipal Administration.

"This will curtail pollution levels," assured KSPCB Chairman Lakshman. He said the levels of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are under permissible levels. "More worrying for Bengaluru is the levels of particulate matter (PM) 10 and 2.5, which cross above the limit in some cases," he said.

Bengaluru was one of the top 13 cities to implement BS-4 when it was implemented in Delhi. Now, officials want the IT city to be in the same list when BS-6 is rolled out.

The cities where BS-4 was first introduced in 2010 are: Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat, Kanpur, Lucknow, Sholapur, Jamshedpur and Agra. Later, the Centre extended the norms in a phased manner to other cities and towns.

Against the standard of 100 ug/m3 of PM10, KSPCB's data for Bengaluru in October read: 122 at Central Silk board, 111 at Kazisonnenihalli, 106 in Peenya Industrial Area and 110 at Domlur.

Vehicular pollution is of foremost concern in the city, while Construction and Demolishing (C&D) waste also affected the air quality.

Officials of BBMP, BDA, PWD and others have been frequently asked to efficiently manage C&D waste, issue regular instructions to transport department to clear road dust, keep vehicular emissions under control and book the offenders.

In spite of such measures, Lakshman admits little gets done.

Central Pollution Control Board in-charge and scientist S Suresh said the standards would be gradually rolled out across the country after implementation.

If Bengaluru joins Delhi in implementing the norms at the first phase, it would help the city effectively deal with rising pollution due to the increasing number of vehicles, Suresh said.