As the air quality in the national capital continue to deteriorate, the Delhi Transport Department denied fuel to nearly 2,800 vehicles without valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates on the first day of 'No PUC, No Fuel' enforcement drive in the national capital. Three enforcement teams have been deployed by the department and are conducting checks at petrol pumps along with police personnel at key locations to ensure strict compliance with emission norms.
2,800 vehicles identified without PUC certificates
Between 6 am on Thursday and 6 am on Friday, around 2,800 vehicles were identified without valid PUC certificates, a senior Transport Department official told PTI.
On the first day of the drive on Thursday, stringent action was taken against vehicles operating without valid PUC certificates, with a total of 3,746 challans issued against violators. The Delhi government said monitoring and strict enforcement will continue in the coming days to reduce vehicular emissions and provide immediate relief to public health.
210 enforcement teams deployed for special drive
As per a joint report by the Delhi Transport Department and the Delhi Traffic Police, a total of 210 enforcement teams were deployed for the special drive, including 126 teams from the Delhi Traffic Police and 84 teams from the Transport Department.
Earlier this week, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa announced that vehicles without a valid PUC certificate would not be provided fuel at petrol pumps in the city from Thursday.
Following the announcement, the number of Pollution Under Control certificates issued in Delhi rose sharply.
31,197 PUC certificates were issued on Dec 17
According to official data, 31,197 PUC certificates were issued on December 17, compared to 17,732 on December 16 -- an increase of 13,465 certificates, or a 75.9 per cent rise within 24 hours.
Every winter, Delhi’s air pollution worsens, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) remaining in the ‘poor’ category above 300 on most days and often slipping into the ‘severe’ category beyond 400, affecting even healthy individuals.
Delhi’s air quality was recorded in the ‘very poor’ category on Friday, with the 2 pm AQI reading at 377 -- higher than the previous day’s 24-hour average AQI of 373 recorded at 4 pm -- according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
According to the CPCB, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51–100 ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’ and 401–500 ‘severe’.
Air purifiers will be installed in 10,000 classrooms
In another development, Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood on Friday announced that air purifiers will be installed in 10,000 classrooms to ensure clean air for the students. Sood said that the government is committed towards tackling the problem of pollution through long-term administrative reforms and policy measures.
"We are not those who flaunt IIT degrees and do campaigns like Odd-Even or Gaadi On, Gaadi Off campaign. We are tackling the issue of pollution through long-term administrative measures," he said, taking a dig at the previous Aam Aadmi Party government.
The Odd-Even scheme, first introduced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) under the then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, was implemented twice in 2016, from January 1 to 15 and again from April 15 to 30.
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Delhi air pollution: 3,700 vehicles challaned on first day of 'No PUC, No Fuel' drive
