MANGALURU: The regional transport office (RTO), Mangaluru, in association with the city-based Anti-Pollution Drive (APD) Foundation has launched a new campaign #StopSmokyVehicles, to put a stop to smoke emitting and polluting vehicles in its jurisdiction.The programme will continue for one month and cover the entire Mangaluru city, including Mulki, Moodabidri and other peripheral areas. Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) will also collaborate with RTO Mangaluru in this campaign.“The objective of #StopSmokyVehicles campaign is to highlight the importance of maintaining vehicles in good and non-polluting conditions; to stop unmaintained and smoke-emitting vehicles from plying on the road and polluting the environment and damaging human health; and to provide a platform to showcase that the residents of Mangaluru do care about its people and the environment,” said John Misquith, regional transport officer, Mangaluru.“As part of this campaign, RTO Mangaluru in association with KSPCB, will undertake spot inspection of vehicles for pollution levels. Chargesheets will be filed on the owners of polluting vehicles and we will also be imposing fines on the offending parties. Hence the public is informed to keep their vehicles in good condition and cooperate,” he added.“APD Foundation will conceptualize, plan, coordinate and execute awareness and research-oriented aspects of the campaign. This includes conducting continuous educational video sessions 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 a good condition. Street plays and roadshows will be enacted at various public venues around the city,” said Abdullah A Rehman, founder-chief of APDF.“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.

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