Emission test centres at all petrol pumps soon

Soon, emission test centres will come up at all petrol pumps in the city to strengthen the process of curbing vehicle emissions, said to account for about 40% of air pollution in urban areas.

The Transport Department recently gave its approval for the draft notification by the Department of Forest and Ecology. Officials said the proposal is aimed at making emission test centres easily accessible to the public.

Amid concerns about rising air pollution levels in urban areas, the Supreme Court had ruled last year that vehicles without pollution under control (PUC) certificates would not be eligible for insurance cover. The ruling resonated the the Road Safety Committee's recommendation to state governments.

A senior official in the Transport Department said the draft notification by the Forest Department would be finalised once the opinion of stakeholders in the sector is taken.

“It is a welcome move aimed at making emission test centres more accessible. Since vehicle owners frequent fuel stations, it would be ideal if all outlets have testing centres reminding and encouraging people to fall in line,” the official said.

There are more than 400 fuel stations in Bengaluru of which only a handful have emission test centres. Last year, officials from the Regional Transport Office had fined 77 such centres for issuing false PUC certificates, and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each.

Asked whether the department can monitor such high number of test centres, the official said there were several foolproof measures that can be adopted to curb such violations. “We will call a tender in which specifications will be made to put a check on such tendencies. Regular inspections are made to look into violations,” he said.