Belching vehicles beware!

A Vehicle Emission Testing (VET) Programme, which the Department of Motor Traffic has been trying to implement since 2003, to reduce air pollution, has finally received the approval of the Attorney General to be included in the Motor Traffic Act.

Under this programme, annual vehicle emission tests will be compulsory for all vehicles and the enforcement will be linked to the issuing of annual revenue licences. If vehicles fail to meet the emission standards they will only be able to obtain the licence after the necessary modifications.

A mechanism has already been worked out to develop a public-private partnership and to assign the task of issuing the Vehicle Emission Certificate by the private sector. Two companies have undertaken the setting up of 80 Emission Testing Centres island-wide. The Centres will be accredited by the Commissioner of Motor Traffic with the concurrence of the Central Environmental Authority. Technicians will be trained to handle emission equipments, identify the problems of vehicles associated with high emission, and rectify them.

However, since the contractors who originally undertook the setting up of Emission Testing Centres three years ago have to restart the procedure yet again, the Programme cannot take effect immediately. Officials at AirMac (The Air Resource Management Centre), the organisation which represents all the major stakeholders of air resource management in Sri Lanka, say it may be implemented within the next 6-12 months.

Increased vehicle emissions have been recognised as the primary cause for the rise in air pollution in Colombo and its suburbs, leading to poor health, reduced life expectancy and an economic burden among the public. The rapidly increasing vehicle fleet, the increasing proportion of old vehicles, poor vehicle maintenance and the absence of clean fuel are contributing factors to the increase in pollution levels.

The worst prevalent air pollutants emitted from vehicles include particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), Hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO). These pollutants cause respiratory problems and increase toxicity and mortality.

Director, Environmental, Economics and Global Affairs, Ministry of Environment, Anura Jayatilake says that the VET programme will go a long way towards reducing the current increase in air pollution. However, he says, legal and administrative delays have resulted in its implementation being postponed.

Specialist Public Health Physician, Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni says that there has been a marked increase in respiratory illnesses - such as upper respiratory tract infections, bronchitis and epidemics of viral infections due to reduced immunity – which can be attributed to the rise in air pollution. There is a high hidden health and financial burden to the Government in terms of treatment cost, loss of temporary working ability and premature death.

According to a World Bank expert, Kseniya Lvovsky, the annual average PM10 levels in Colombo exceeds the US AEP standard of 50 ug/m3; and in hot spots it is 84 ug/m3, which is most representative of average resident exposure. This level of exposure may cause each year: 3 million episodes of respiratory illness, 1000 cases of chronic bronchitis, 150 excess deaths and health damage equivalent to $US 30 million.

Children are especially vulnerable to air pollution. The nose is like an air filter, and because their noses are smaller than adults', children's noses get blocked up sooner by secretions and swelling. This forces them to breathe through their mouths more often. The mouth is not an air filter, and particulates go directly to the lungs, causing sickness.

On average over 9,500 children are admitted with respiratory diseases yearly at the Lady Ridgeway Children’s hospital-more than one tenth of the total number of admissions.

Asthma is seen as the second highest respiratory illness requiring hospitalisation and the rise in asthma has been attributed to the increase in three-wheelers, two-wheelers and fuel consumption.

Two-stroke engine three wheelers and motorbikes have been recognized as the main contributors to PM10 and HC pollution, accounting for over 70 % of exhaust HC emissions. Compared to four-strokes, two-strokes are fuel inefficient, causing them to emit higher liquid Particulate Matter rich in Hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds. They also cause higher sound and water pollution. The annual environmental discharge of HC alone by two-strokes is estimated to be 10100 metric tonnes.

Two-stroke engines have been banned in most Western countries as well as several Asian cities including New Delhi, Dhaka, Katmandu and Lahore. However, in 2003, a proposal put forward to the Cabinet to ban two-stroke engines in Sri Lanka, was deferred due to various external influences.

At present authorities at AirMac request that the use of four-stroke engine three wheelers be promoted against the use of two-stroke. However, the distributors of two-stroke engine three-wheelers in Sri Lanka deny that the engines are harmful in any way.There is also a lack of data regarding air pollution in Sri Lanka. There is only a single functional air quality monitoring unit in the country located in Fort, Colombo, and there are conflicting reports as to the accuracy of the data received from that. Environmentalists say that there is very little change in the weekly data, which cannot be possible with the various climate changes and increase in vehicles. However, AirMac insists that the data is correct.

Also in a city such as Colombo, where industries are located within the city itself and there is high vehicular traffic, there is a serious need for monitoring units in several parts of the city to enable correct assessment of the situation. Nevertheless, the cost of such a unit is approximately Rs.30 million and officials at AirMac say that there are no funds available at present for the establishment of such units. Furthermore, there is no way to study the air quality in other parts of the island.

Controlling and reducing vehicle emissions is an integral step towards reducing the current air pollution. According to the Statistics Division of The Department of Motor Traffic there are currently 1,500,000 to 1,800,000 vehicles currently being used in the country, and that number has increased by 168, 606 since January 2006. Of these, over 200,000 are three-wheelers, the majority of which are two-stroke three-wheelers.

Yet it appears that there are still many hurdles to be crossed before the VET programme is put into effect. At present the Cabinet memorandum to authorize the Commissioner of Motor Traffic to sign the agreement with the contractors on behalf of the Government has been sent to the Ministry of Transport.

Although AirMac makes policy decisions, says Mr. Jayatilake, it takes the cooperation of other organisations and individuals to accomplish them.

The public also need to be made aware of these issues and be educated on the proper maintenance of vehicles.He says they hope to institutionalise AirMac, which currently consists of several stakeholders, into a single separate entity under the Ministry of Environment. Although this may change the set-up, it will create a stronger mechanism to tackle the issues connected to improving the air quality in Sri Lanka.