19k pollution cases filed against vehicles in a year.

Times of India: sunitha Rao, Bangalore: Saturday, September 12, 2015. 

Angry about pollution in the city? Blame the vehicles. For, the transport department registered 19,088 cases against vehicles in Bengaluru between April 2014 and March 2015 for causing pollution - both sound and air - and collected Rs 96.68 lakh as fine. 

According to data released to TOI by the transport department, 48,507 cases were filed against vehicles across the state for causing pollution - both sound and air - during the period and Rs 1.93 crore was collected as fine. 

However, the transport department failed to give the same details to an RTI applicant recently. When Vinoth Ranganathan, cofounder of OnlineRTI.com, filed an RTI application, some RTOs didn't bother to reply. And if one goes by the information provided by other RTOs, only 6,434 vehicles were booked across the state for causing air pollution and Rs 30.24 lakh was collected as fine between April 2014 and March 2015. According to the RTI reply, only 7,592 cases were registered against vehicles for causing sound pollution and Rs 58.49 lakh collected as fine. 

Vinoth says he wanted to find out the measures taken by the government to control pollution and against vehicles that carry iron rods protruding outside from it, posing threat to others. 

Vinoth told TOI he was surprised by the response from the transport department. "The reason for filing an RTI application on the action taken against four-wheelers carrying iron rods was that, trucks get loaded with such rods at workshops near east Bengaluru every day." Though it's a common scene everywhere, most RTOs said 'no case' has been registered. For instance, though Bommanahalli has seen the increased construction activities over the years and vehicles carrying iron rods protruding outside their frame is a daily affair, the Electronics City RTO has said no case was registered. 

Carrying rods or girders protruding from the back of vehicles is punishable under section 190 (2) of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. 

The replies given by RTOs in others districts are vague. For instance, Davanagere RTO said 3,457 cases were filed against vehicles and Rs 19.72 lakh was collected as fine, but did not specify the violations. The reason given was that a case like "carrying iron rods dangerously in a truck" does not have a separate section in the rulebook. 

"Some of the data given by the RTOs were not specific to the questions. The department that has not given the right information to the RTI applicant has released a different statistics to the media. It only means that the department has not taken the RTI application seriously," Vinoth said.