Joint teams in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia to check for pollution-spewing vehicles
At the request of Sofia mayor Yordanka Fandukova, joint inspections by Traffic Police and the Sofia Inspectorate, directed against vehicles contributing to air pollution will begin on February 12, the municipality said.
The announcement came after prolonged concern about levels of air pollution in Bulgaria’s capital city.
Sofia municipality said that the technical condition of vehicles’ exhaust systems would be checked, as well as the cleanliness of the undercarriage of heavy vehicles.
“The aim is not to allow vehicles that pollute the air,” the statement said.
The checks will be done on the roads using gas analysers, which the municipality has purchased and provided to the Traffic Police. So far, the devices have only been used at Traffic Police stations.
The municipality said that on February 10, Sofia Inspectorate teams were carrying out inspections of sources of air pollution at motor vehicle repair garages, furniture workshops, production and construction sites, as well as following up reports of burning outdoors.
Since the beginning of February, more than 130 air pollution inspections have been carried out, the statement said.
A fine had been issued for burning old wooden boards at a furniture production workshop.
At 11 out of 62 construction sites inspected, fines had been issued for polluting the air.
In four areas of Sofia – Vuzrazhdane, Poduyane, Vitosha and Krasna Polyana – inspections had been carried out at a total of 38 private properties about which there had been reports of burning of waste.
The municipality said that in terms of its ordinance on waste management and maintenance of cleanliness, the fine for a natural person is 100 to 5000 leva (about 50 to 2500 euro) and for a juristic person, from 700 to 20 000 leva.
(Photo: Andy Greenhouse/freeimages.com)
