There seem to be no takers for the scheme launched by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) for the public to report about polluting buses and win Rs 1,000.
KSRTC had launched the scheme in 2004 for the public to call in and report about smoke-emitting buses. Three buses were reported for pollution by a caller since 2008 for awards, when the reward money was increased from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000. No person has called to report about smoke-emitting buses thereafter. Not even since the scheme was revived a month ago.
Officials said that they do receive many calls, but many of them are about other irrelevant issues than about the pollution levels. Every call regarding the pollution is forwarded to the depot manager concerned and after thorough testing and checking, it can be established if the emission is beyond the permissible levels.
Another reason for the low-key response to the scheme, KSRTC officials point out, is that since every bus has to undergo an emission check before it embarks on a journey, one does not see many smoke-emitting KSRTC buses on the roads.
As per KSRTC statistics, in 2014-15, 88,071 schedules were checked during routine drives and 1,079 buses were found emitting smoke above the prescribed levels.