Don't be smug about smog!

Waking up to the toxic air and gasping to breathe, Delhites are now taking a daily dose of these harrowing experiences with the persistent blanket of smog hesitating to leave the city. Meanwhile, Bengaluru is also noticeably heading towards a similar ‘smog crisis’  and the state government is all set to launch the ‘less traffic day’ campaign which will come into operation in less than two months. The campaign aims at minimising the number of vehicles plying on roads, by creating awareness among the ooreans to utilise public transport or hire yellow board vehicles.

The much-anticipated ‘smog crisis’ has been staring at the city for quite a long time now and we talk to some city-based environmentalists and activists, to figure out the feasibility of such ‘awareness campaigns’ given the gravity of the situation. Juhi Ramani, a city-based activist feels that awareness alone will not suffice and many factors including constructing cycle lanes and better quality roads are key points to focus on. “Especially in areas like Electronic City, building quality roads will bring down the dry dust pollution to a great extent. Also, there should be stringent rules on restricting old vehicles and those that cause pollution. Making cycle lanes, promoting e-vehicles and making pollution-check free of cost are other plausible measures that will help control pollution effectively,’’ says Juhi.

Delhi-based Kunal Sareen who works as a sales manager in Bengaluru says that entry for heavy logistics vehicles during day time should be stopped immediately.
“Being a Delhite working in Bangalore, I know what it feels to be in clean air and polluted air. I’ve been here for more than eight years and I don’t want to see Bengaluru face a Delhi-like situation in terms of pollution. Currently, we have not reached that stage yet but if we ignore our current situation, then it won’t take long for us to reach there. Heavy vehicles burn more fuel and create more pollution. Hence, I think that banning them on roads during daytime is one small step towards curbing pollution,’’ he says.

According to Meenakshi Ravikrishna, co-founder of Bengaluru Waste Warriors, street side parking is one major cause for hassles on road and it should be penalised without fail. “Street side parking in residential areas is the major cause for addition of number of vehicles in the city. This has been overlooked or not thought about. Before anybody buys a vehicle in our city, they should be made to think whether they have the parking facility. Public spaces/roads/streets cannot be taken for granted. This will be a more effective step than just an awareness campaign,’’ says Meenakshi.

Siva Ashok, a city-based graphic designer  feels that a lack of discipline and driving etiquette among drivers in public transport is a major factor makes people use private vehicles and eventually contributes to more pollution. “Severe punishment should be given to errant BMTC drivers who don’t care about the safety of pedestrians or traffic jams they cause. This is one major reason people don’t opt for public transport. By improving the quality of public transportation and by making penalising severe for these drivers, I guess a good number of people will switch to public transportation,” says Siva.