Pollution Control Board wants to keep autos out of central business district

BENGALURU: State govt exploring Pollution Control Board suggestion but MP claims the move will affect mobility in city central As the state government explores a suggestion from the Pollution Control Board to keep autorickshaws off the central business district (CBD), an auto driver union has threatened to move the court if the suggestion is implemented.
Bengaluru has 1.49 lakh autos and the idea to keep them out is born out of an idea among the Board officials who believe rickshaws cause air pollution.

In a Jan 23 letter to the Transport and Environment Departments, the traffic police and the BBMP, the Board suggested that autos be banned from the CBD purview in a phased manner.

Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha member PC Mohan protested the suggestion and urged the Siddaramaiah regime to instead focus its energies on completing the metro project work within deadlines. “How will people move around when public transport system is unreliable and autos are banned,“ he asked.

KSPCB chairman Lakshman believes autos have serious emissionrelated problems. “This is a big concern. It is up to the government to act,“ he said.

Phasing out autos from the city centre will not affect citizens, he claimed.“Once the metro rail network is complete, connectivity between north and south of the city will be easy ,“ he said.

The KSPCB has said the government could restrict the entry of autos under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, which empowers the government to “close, prohibit or regulate“ any industry , operation or process. In fact, this is not the first time the Board has sought phasing out of autos from the CBD area. A similar direction was issued two years ago.Only this time, the KSPCB has kept the National Green Tribunal in the loop.

Transport Commissioner Rame Gowda felt the suggestion is worthy of implementation in some areas. But the real catch, according to him, is the CBD is not defined clearly . “BDA is the planning authority that has to earmark the CBD boundaries,“ he said.

But M Manjunath, president of Adarsha Auto and Taxi Drivers Union, said most autos in the city are fitted with four-stroke engines and run on LPG and hence are less-polluting. “It is not fair to keep us outside. If they still plan that, we will move court,“ he said.