As Toxic Smog Chokes National Capital, Delhi Traffic Police Deploys Teams at 170 Spots To Nab Pollution Violators

On Saturday, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government had announced the closure of schools for one week starting Monday.

New Delhi: With an aim to curb the growing pollution in the national capital, the Delhi Police has intensified its crackdown against pollution violators. The authorities have deployed teams at 170 locations across Delhi. The crackdown against polluting drivers is part of the Delhi government’s Winter Action Plan to combat rising air pollution.

On Saturday, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government had announced the closure of schools for one week starting Monday. In a meeting held to discuss emergency measures to deal with the prevailing pollution crisis in Delhi, the CM directed all concerned departments, including traffic, to strictly enforce guidelines issued to curb pollution.

“We are already working on the winter action plan in our bid to curb pollution. Since October especially, our priorities have been to prosecute vehicles causing pollution-related violations,” a senior Delhi Traffic Police officer told PTI

“We are impounding old diesel and petrol vehicles and also checking vehicles for valid pollution under control (PUC) certificates,” the officer added.

As part of its plan, the traffic police has deployed its teams at several locations where checks are being done to see if vehicles have a valid PUC certificate or not.

“At each of the 170 identified locations across our traffic circles, we have deployed our teams at three different spots. These teams check whether a vehicle has a valid PUC certificate or not. Most of these spots are located near petrol pumps, where the vehicles can be checked easily for such violations and at the same time drivers advised to get the certificates immediately,” the officer said.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Manish Kumar Agarwal said the Winter Action Plan has been implemented with strict orders to the traffic personnel to check pollutant-emitting vehicles.

“We are taking pollution issue very seriously. Strict instructions have been passed on to our traffic personnel to ensure that pollution level remains low and that our department contributes its best to safeguard our environment and ensure that our citizens get clean air to breathe,” Agarwal told PTI.

According to the Delhi Traffic Police data, the force has issued 59, 644 challans for PUC certificate violations, and 1201 challans against those plying 10 and 15 years old vehicles from January 1 to October 31 this year.

The Winter Action Plan was enforced by the traffic police last month, officials said.

The police are taking action against big vehicles such as trucks, which are found driving with uncovered construction material, as they are likely to mix with air and contribute to air pollution.

The data showed police challaned 873 such vehicles which were found carrying material used in construction or similar purpose without proper covering.

To further curb vehicular pollution, the officer said vehicles which are not bound for Delhi are being diverted from borders towards peripheral highways.