Bangalore getting slow-poisoned and how

SILENT KILLERS: Two-wheelers are the biggest cause of pollution in Bangalore.

People who read this also read:

Mumbai woman falls under train, cut into three

The police and stationmaster both refused taking Anita's body to a hospital.

• What women want? Liberty or marriage
• Sarkozy backs US-India nuclear deal

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Bite the Bullet

Featured Slideshows

Ads by Google

Bangalore: Bangalore's traffic is taking a toll on the air in the Garden City. The latest report on the city's pollution levels says vehicular pollution has doubled over the last 10 years and two-wheelers are the major culprits.

"The vehicles emit 2.2 million tones of carbon dioxide and about 315 tonnes of methane and 19 tonnes of nitrous oxide every year," Dr Uma Rajarathnam, an Environment consultant, says

Apart from the above-mentioned pollutants, another 50,000 tonnes of carbon monoxide is spewed out on the roads.

"If the present trend continues, it'll be double of present emissions - you can expect 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 10 years," Dr Rajarathnam says.

The reason Rajarathnam, a consultant with the Karnataka Pollution Control Board, is worried is because very few care to keep their vehicles at home and even fewer care for car-pooling and public transport.

But it's the 21-lakh two-wheelers, the highest for any city in the world, that's blackening the beauty of Garden City.

"The biggest problem in Bangalore is unplanned growth. Planning is forecasting what will be the kind of vehicle density on the roads and creating the right infrastructure for it," Dr HC Sharatchandra, Chairman of Pollution Control Board, adds.

Even the residents of the city say that rising pollution is causing problems form them.

"Pollution levels are rising. The traffic is also increasing," a middle-aged man says.

"I'm an asthma patient as well so I know how much it affects," a young girl adds.

Most people in Bangalore spend at least four hours every day on the road. Only if they spend at least one hour of that in a bus or on a bicycle, the city would become a much cleaner and greener.