Emission of poisonous gases by motor vehicles that is far more excessive of the parameters set out by the World Health Organization and the Central Environmental Authority of Sri Lanka causes serious health hazards for the people, specially for the urban and sub-urban dwellers that kills and makes a serious impact on the economy on the one hand on medical care and on the other fuel waste due to improper fuel combustion eats into the economy in a big way. Vehicle emission is a major contributor for the fast deteriorating ambient air quality of urban and sub-urban Sri Lanka, which has an adverse impact on human health, eco systems and physical structures.
A comprehensive survey on ‘Remote Sensing of Vehicle Emissions in Sri Lanka’ has been conducted by the Ministry of Transport and in the survey and preparation of the Report assistance has been provided by the Environment Systems Products (ESP) of USA in association with the Industrial Services Bureau (IBS) and Hayleys Ltd under the sponsorship of USAID/US-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP) and the USAID/Global Development Alliance. A half day seminar to present the findings of Vehicle Emission Remote Sensing Survey and Agreement Signing of the Mandatory Vehicle Emission Monitoring Project was held recently in Colombo.
The Survey Report was extensively discussed at this Seminar. The Survey points out that the rapidly increasing vehicle population and fuel consumption, particularly diesel, the high proportion of old vehicles and poor vehicle maintenance, the absence of clean fuel; and the high rate of urbanization are contributing to pollution levels in Sri Lanka that are significantly higher than health standards.
