Two-stroke autos still plying in city

Two-stroke autos still plying in city

Around 45,000 two-stroke autorickshaws are playing a big role in increasing the pollution levels in the city. Bosky Khanna finds out the details

Bosky Khanna



Despite the Regional Transport Authority curbing the registration of two-stroke autorickshaws in Bangalore, 45,000 of them are still plying in the city.
According to an RTO official, there are 80,000 registered autorickshaws in Bangalore and of this 50 per cent of them are two-stroke. Since these autorickshaws cannot be banned in the city, their registration is being curbed to control the pollution levels.
"These existing ones are old and not one of them has been registered. They cannot be banned due to legal reasons. The registration was stopped in 2005 and despite that they are still plying. As per Motor Vehicle Act they cannot be banned so we are controlling their number by not increasing them further," the official added.
These two-stroke engines do not adhere to Bharat-2 standards, which is the minimum standard for companies all vehicles to ply by.
Noise pollution
Noise pollution is also higher as in two-stroke engines the silencer is easily tampered with. The fuel in these engines burns partially compared to four-stroke engines, leading to more pollution levels.
In some cases people are misguided that by stuffing a muffler inside the silencer there is complete combustion.
People also use local oil instead of branded oil, which further reduce the efficiency of vehicles.
However, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB)officials say they are unable to calculate the pollution levels. They say that it is much higher than other vehicles and is much more harmful to people.
The vehicular pollutants emitted are —unburned hydrocarbon, organic carbon, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide. Increasing pollution levels leads to cancer, lung related diseases, respiratory problems, cough, cold, asthma and other heart ailments.
"The ideal solution is to ban them in the city and phase them out either by replacing them or restricting them in city limits. RTO should also issue directions to government authorities to allow only four stroke engines," said a KSPCB official.