A march against pollution

BANGALORE: Of about 40 lakh vehicles plying the roads throughout Karnataka, 20 lakh are in Bangalore alone. With air pollution levels reaching dangerously high proportions, the Transport Department has started a intense campaign against vehicular pollution. As part of this, a padayatra -- inaugurated by Transport Minister Ramanath Rai, was undertaken by the Transport Department on Saturday.
The two-hour-long padayatra against pollution began from Vidhana Soudha, progressed towards K.R.Circle, Kempegowda Road, Majestic Railway Station, Anandrao Circle, Race Course Road and finally ended at Vidhana Soudha.
Those taking part in the 1 km walk included environmentalists, senior officers of the BCC, KSRTC and BMTC, traffic wardens, Pollution Control Board officials, Advocates Association president Subba Reddy, BCC Works Committee Chairman Narendra Babu, a large number of women and citizens from the city.
Several vintage and Reva cars, school vans, a group from Akshaygana and pollution-free vehicles also accompanied the padayatra.
Transport Commissioner T. Thimme Gowda said: "About 5,000 people including 1,500 children from 25 schools accompanied us for this padayatra. This is the first time we have undertaken an initiative of this kind and we are optimistic about the success of our pollution-free city campaign."
While the padayatra is part of the Transport Department''s one-month campaign against vehicular pollution, the next step is covering residential areas and spreading awareness. Thimme Gowda also added that on November 11, the campaign to spread awareness in all the wards of Bangalore city will commence. Once Bangalore is sensitised about the problem and the pollution levels brought down, the Transport department will take out its campaign to various other cities of Karnataka.