KSRTC challenges public to spot polluting buses

BANGALORE: Armed Armed with emission certificates for its fleet of 7599 buses and supported by a strict checking regime, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has thrown an open challenge to citizens to spot and report a smoke emitting KSRTC bus.Citizens can earn a reward of Rs 1000 by reporting the registration number of the polluting bus to the corporation. As a part of its initiative to ensure low emissions from its buses, KSRTC had earlier introduced this scheme with a reward of `200 which over the years has been raised to Rs 1000 as the checking schedules become stricter.The Road Transport Corporation (RTC) has an extensive fleet checking regime which ensures that all 7599 buses are checked once a month for smoke emission levels inspite of the fact that the Motor Vehicles Act states that the fleet must be checked once in six months. This has given KSRTC the confidence reward citizens for reporting polluting buses.Also, the RTC in the past few years has been researching the use of Ethanol and bio-diesel as an economic and environment friendly alternative to fossil fuels.1000 buses currently run on these eco-friendly fuels and ten depots including Doddabellapur (2005) are already opertional and a further 15 more have been identified for blending Diesel with Ethanol.This has resulted in a lowering of emissions by almost 20-40% for KSRTC.Buses also use various other technologies for improving emission levels like fuel additives and other patented technologies currently operational in Depot-1 in Bangalore.KSRTC is also experimenting with water induction technologies which depending on the engine can result in power and fuel efficiency. “Water injection may also be used to reduce carbon monoxide emissions,” said an official.“Once a person lodges a complaint with the local city depot or bus stand, the RTC will run another check on the bus number mentioned and if the emission check carried out proves that levels are beyond the prescribed 65 HSU (Hartridge Smoke Unit) the person will be eligible for the award,” said Latha, PRO of KSRTC.