Ramalinga Reddy, Transport Minister, Bengaluru Urban District In-charge Minister and Chairman KSRTC launched ‘Prakruthi- The Emission Check Vehicle’ on April 29 at KSRTC Central Office, Shanthinagar. Dr Lohit D Naikar, Vice Chariman, KSRTC, Rajendar Kumar Kataria, Managing Director, KSRTC, Suresh Heblikar, Environmentalist and other dignitaries were presented during the occasion
KSRTC is in the forefront amongst State owned Transport Undertakings in India with continuous improvement on environmental issues, setting objectives which conform to the national and international laws, by adhering to the environmental standards stipulated by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the Government of India from time to time.
A special emphasis is laid down for prevention of negative environmental impacts by using the advanced & latest technology for safe and healthy working condition in and around its operating environment. As a part of its social responsibility and to maintain environmental standards of vehicular emission, KSRTC introduces a novel concept called “Prakruthi- For a cleaner environment”, the initiate which is the first of its kind amongst STU’s in India.
Bolero MUV branded as ‘Prakruthi’ which is equipped with smoke testing meter which is engineered to cater the needs of emission testing of all types of diesel-engine vehicles with latest technology. It is a single compact unit with LED remote control having USB interfaces for communication with PC. This unit measures the quantum of smoke and the RPM ranging from 400 to 4500 RPM.
Prakruthi is also acquired with sound level meter which is designed to check & measure the sound ranging from 35dB to 130 dB at frequencies between 31.5 Hz and 8 KHz.
The smoke emission and noise checking mobile vehicle is named as Prakruthi which aims to prevent and mitigate the negative environmental impacts due to air and noise pollution associated during the course of functioning of the Corporation. This stands as a testimony to the efforts put up by KSRTC in creating awareness in environmental protection amongst its workforce.
In recognition of these innovative measures, the Corporation has bagged several National and International awards in the field of environment protection. The note- worthy efforts on environment conservation initiated by KSRTC are :
l 88,071 numbers of routine smoke emission checking’s are carried out during the period of 2014-15, out of which 1079 buses found above the prescribed norms. These buses have been rectified and put back into the operation.
l 7,892 buses were checked in 3 surprise emission programmes organized in 2014-15, out of which 114 buses were found above prescribed norms. Action has been taken to rectify the defects in these 114 buses and put back into operation.
l The entire fleet of KSRTC is subjected to emission test with on-line smoke meter at 14 divisions and vehicles are displayed with the pollution-under-check certificate once in every 6 months as per Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR) rules.
l KSRTC has launched a reward scheme where the public will be rewarded with Rs. 1000/- for identifying the buses which are emitting smoke above prescribed norms.
l 1668 High Speed Diesel (HSD) samples were collected and checked during the period of 2014-15 for the quality of fuel.
l Installed water recycling plant at 28 depots and planned to equip in all the remaining depots to conserve scarce water resource.
l Aims to adopt rain water harvesting systems in all its upcoming buildings.
l Installed 45 numbers of 2 KWp and 126 numbers of 300 Wp Solar Lightings in Bus Stations, Workshops, Training institute, Divisional offices and Depots to conserve grid power.
l KSRTC promotes the use of alternate fuels. As many as 21 depots are identified for usage of Ethanol blended diesel (7.7% Ethanol + 0.5% Solubilizer + 91.8% Diesel) in its fleet. KSRTC is the first STU in India to use Ethanol blended diesel.
l KSRTC is certified with ISO 9001: 2008 and ISO 14001:2004 to its Regional Workshops in the city
‘Prakruthi’ – The Emission Check Vehicle
