Air pollution caused by vehicles is rising sharply in Kozhikode city, making the issuance of Pollution Under Control Certificates (PUC) a meaningless exercise, say road users.
Though vehicles, mostly private buses and goods-carriers, carry the PUC certificate, the emission levels mentioned in the certificates or their genuineness are rarely verified by officials.
Special squads formed by the Motor Vehicles Department and the traffic police for checking traffic rule violations are yet to focus on the violation of emission norms. The squads have a limited number of Portable Emissions Measurement System (PEMS) to check emission levels on the spot.
An integrated online verification system earlier planned by the State government to track the use of fake PUC certificates using QR code verification too is remaining on paper.
Figures available with the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology, and Environment say three cities — Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode — have 40% of the total registered vehicles in the State. Automobile emission and noise from the three cities are severe in nature and lead to serious air quality deterioration.
Faulty engine
Experts in the automobile sector say the high emission of black smoke or carbon monoxide is the first indication of a faulty engine, which can be addressed only by timely service. However, it may be an expensive work in the case of older vehicles.
Though representatives of various organisations and travellers’ forums have taken up the issue with district-level authorities several times citing health hazards, no action has been taken yet.
Tourist taxi operators say they regularly spot a number of such vehicles in the city.
“On the Kozhikode-Kannur national highway itself, one can spot the movement of a number of goods carriers with high emission of black smoke. Strangely, all such vehicles manage to reach their destinations without any trouble during their inter-district journey,” says Sanoop, a tourist taxi operator.
Meanwhile, MVD officials say the public can easily assist the checking squads by providing the details of such polluting vehicles through the WhatsApp helpline:- 8281786094.
They say a rechecking or verification of the already issued PUC certificate from the agencies can be done on noticing genuine complaints.
Now, five checking squads are in action covering the national highways as part of a special checking drive and they will be responding quickly to such complaints, they add.