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Joint inspections conducted by the officials of the Transport, Civil Supplies Department and representatives of public sector oil companies revealed that 20 per cent of the vehicles violated the emission norms prescribed.

HYDERABAD, April 18

NEARLY 50 per cent of the vehicles plying the roads of major cities in Andhra Pradesh have not been subjected to pollution checks.

Of the total of 18.02 lakh vehicles on the roads in Hyderabad, Tirupati, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, only 9.37 lakh have been given the pollution under check (PUC) certificates.

In Hyderabad alone, a staggering number of 4.25 lakh vehicles are freely moving about without the PUC. Despite these statistics, there is hardly any action forthcoming from the Andhra Pradesh Government, according to the latest report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

The State Government, in November 2000, had ordered the setting up of PUC stations in all these cities with a view to bringing down pollution levels.

However, joint inspections conducted by the officials of the Transport, Civil Supplies Departments and representatives of public sector oil companies revealed that 20 per cent of the vehicles violated the emission norms prescribed. The inspection was done on 1,514 vehicles, of which 301 (20 per cent) were found violating prescribed emission standards.

Another interesting point made by the CAG report was that 20 per cent of the total 18.02 lakh vehicles in the four cities were manufactured over 15 years ago. The State Government had plans to ban vehicles older than 15 years.

Referring to the air pollution problem in Hyderabad, the State Pollution Control Board said the total pollution load due to all types of vehicles had increased from 491 tonnes per day in 1995 to 1,123 tonnes in 2000.

Petrol-driven vehicles contributed 77 per cent of the total pollution load. The State Government said it was implementing an action plan on the basis of recommendations made by a Committee in a phased manner during 2001-05.

In another study carried out by the Environmental Protection Training and Research Institute (EPTRI), Hyderabad, very high levels of suspended particulate matter (SPM) were detected even indoors in Paradise area of Secunderabad and Koti in Hyderabad.

Corroborating these high SPM levels on possible impact on health, a study by the Osmania Medical College found the prevalence of respiratory problems attributable to vehicular air pollution.

A screening of effects of automobile pollution on 633 traffic police constables working in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad revealed that 67 per cent of the constables had health problems, 29 per cent were suffering from respiratory symptoms, 25 per cent had non-respiratory problems, eye irritation, etc.

The State Government replied to the CAG queries that a detailed study was being proposed for environmental epidemiology studies relating to air pollution impacts.

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