‘Ban autos in central areas’

‘Ban autos in central areas’
BY SHRINIVASA M.
BENGALURU







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‘ Adopt pedestrian ‘ oriented street designs in Bengaluru Scientists
In a bid to improve the air quality in Bengaluru, environmental scientists have recommended that the Centre should bring an amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act-1999 and ban autos in certain localities especially in the central parts of the city.

A decision in this regard was taken at the 21st annual conference of National Environmental Science Academy held at Bangalore University recently. The recommendations were finalised by 220 environmental scientists.

Speaking to this newspaper, conference organising secretary Prof. R.K. Somashekhar said the recommendations are being sent to the state government and the National Environmental Science Association, New Delhi. A report will be published soon to enable policy makers take action to make development more sustainable. t For one, the scientists want the Centre and the state government to adopt pedestrian oriented street designs in Bengaluru to ease the pressure on transport systems. Traffic expert Prof.

M.N. Shrihari told Deccan Chronicle that the majority of city roads does not provide much space for pedestrians forcing people to use two-wheelers or catch autos to reach nearby places. “Encroachments and the poor maintenance of footpaths have created several problems. In pedestrian oriented streets, adequate funds should be provided to build underpasses and sky walkers in a more scientific way,” he said.

According to government guidelines, each footpath should have a minimum width of 1.5 metres. But in Bengaluru, only 30 percent of roads have space for those who walk.

The report says that Bengaluru is one of the cities with high Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) as well as Nitrogen Oxide and Sulphur Dioxide which have touched high to critical levels.

“Autos and old vehicles are the major contributors to air pollution. We need a policy on this issue,” said the report.