Air pollution has taken a huge toll on the human life eitherdirectly or indirectly. While the automobiles are serving us as means ofnecessity or luxury, they are also one of the key factors responsible forpolluting the air that we breathe. It is high time that one understands theimportance of controlling pollution before it gets too late to make up for thedamage.
Since India started formal emission control rule only in1991, there is a gap in comparison with technologies available in the westerncountries. Currently, we are lagging behind Euro norms by few years, however, abeginning has been made, and emission norms are being associated with Euro standards.Conscious efforts are being made to bridge the gap between Euro standards andIndian emission norms.
The fuel is burnt in combination with air in an engine. Fuellike petrol and diesel consists of hydrocarbons, while air mainly consists ofoxygen and nitrogen. If this burning is complete, there will be only carbondioxide and water vapour coming out of a vehicular exhaust but unfortunately,even the most efficient engines cannot burn the fuel completely. Because ofsuch incomplete combustion, carbon monoxide is produced. Part of the fuel whichhas not been burnt comes out as hydrocarbons. The high temperature inside theengine (about 2000 dg C) causes the oxygen and nitrogen in the air to combineand form various oxides of nitrogen which are harmful to human beings.
It is interesting to note that vehicular emission does notcome under the purview of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) but theRegional Transport Office (RTO). The RTO keeps a check on pollution by makingit mandatory for vehicles to have a valid PUC certificate. The exhaust fumesare analysed at PUC centres (Pollution Under Control) with the help of anexhaust analyser and vehicles are certified accordingly. Shyamsundar Kamat ofWest Coast Garage and Industries in Panjim says, “Petrol vehicles emit moreharmful gases then diesel. Furthermore, vehicles running on LPG pollute lesserthan diesel, while a CNG engine contributes the least towards pollution. Thepermissible limit of Carbon Monoxide (CO) emitted from petrol cars is below 3%and that of two wheelers is below 4.5%. For diesel cars, the Carbon Dioxide(CO2) given out should be below the limit of 65%”.
While it might not be possible to keep a check on the numberof vehicles owned by individuals to control pollution, it may be interesting toknow that inadequate and poor quality of road surface leads to increasedvehicle operation costs thereby leading to increased pollution. If thecondition of roads improves, a considerable amount of vehicle operation costscan be saved and pollution be reduced.
