The Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) is now seeking the support of members of the public to crack down on vehicles that emit high volumes of smoke.
Accordingly, the following telephone number has been introduced for the public to inform of such vehicles via WhatsApp: 070 350 0525
As per reports, the DMT has received a multitude of complaints about the privately-owned buses, SLTB buses and vehicles used by public sector institutions including the police that emit excessive smoke from the exhaust.
Addressing a press conference, the DMT’s director-general revealed that more than 40% of privately-owned buses have failed the vehicle emission test conducted in February. Every month, all private sector passenger buses undergo the test at the Vehicle Emission Testing Center on Bastian Road.
He warned that the revenue license of the vehicles that fail the test would be blacklisted if the owners fail to get the vehicles inspected at the DMT’s head office in Werahera within 14 days.
Meanwhile, project director of DMT’s vehicular emission test trust fund Dasun Janaka, joining the said press conference, noted that the volumes of black smoke emitted from vehicle exhausts have alarmingly gone up over the past few years.
