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M’luru RTO, APDF launch ‘#stopsmokyvehicles’ campaign

Mangaluru: The regional transport office (RTO), Mangaluru, in collaboration with the city-based Anti-Pollution Drive (APD) Foundation has initiated a campaign aimed at putting a stop to smoke emitting and polluting vehicles in its jurisdiction. 

Titled #StopSmokyVehicles, the programme will be undertaken for a month and cover the entire Mangaluru city, including Mulki, Moodabidri and other peripheral areas. Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) will also join hands with RTO Mangaluru in this campaign.

The campaign emphasises on the importance of maintaining vehicles in good and non-polluting conditions and to stop smoke-emitting vehicles, that pollute our surroundings from plying on the road, informed an officer from Mangaluru RTO. Further, he informed that the RTO officials in association with KSPCB will undertake spot inspection of vehicles and fines will be imposed on owners of polluting vehicles.  

Speaking about the campaign Abdullah A Rehman, founder-chief of APDF, said that the foundation will conceptualize, plan, coordinate and execute awareness and research-oriented aspects of the campaign. Educational video sessions will be held at the RTO office for the benefit of residents visiting the office to highlight the impact of air pollution and motivate them to maintain their vehicles in good condition. Street plays and roadshows will be enacted at various public venues around the city to educate citizens.” 

“APD Foundation, under its Shuddha Gaali programme, will undertake health impact assessment of air pollution on outdoor workers like street vendors and roadside shopkeepers. Pulmonary function test (PFT) will be done on this target group using portable PFT machines. Data will be collected from an estimated sample size of about 400 residents who work alongside roads having dense traffic. This data will be further analyzed by a team of trained pulmonologists, and the report will be released by RTO Mangaluru during a function in the first week of December,” he said.

“APD Foundation is a non-profit organisation that works towards mitigating air pollution, facilitating sanitation of the environment and thereby help improve public health and the economic profile of Indian cities. We are delighted that RTO Mangaluru and other government departments have recognized our expertise and involved us to contribute in the drive against vehicular pollution,” Abdullah said.