From Thursday, December 18, Delhi will draw a harder line at its borders.
Only BS-VIcompliant vehicles from outside the city will be allowed to enter, Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Tuesday, framing the move as a necessary escalation in the citys ongoing struggle against toxic air.
Speaking at a press conference, Sirsa said the restriction would remain in force until further orders. Inside the city, the enforcement net will tighten further: Vehicles without a valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate will be denied fuel at petrol pumps starting the same day.
Owners have been given a single day to fall in line.
After that, Sirsa said, the process would be automated and impersonal. Cameras installed at fuel stations will identify non-compliant vehicles, triggering an automatic refusal of fuel.
"Penalties have already been imposed on more than 800,000 vehicle owners, who do not have valid PUC certificates," the minister said.
Construction material carriers, Sirsa said, would face outright bans and strict penalties, including the sealing of vehicles found violating norms.
On Tuesday morning, Delhi woke under a dull, choking haze again. The city's Air Quality Index stood at 377, an improvement from Monday's 498, but firmly lodged in the 'very poor' category. Over the past two days, several neighbourhoods slipped back into the 'severe' range, with 11 of the city's 40 monitoring stations recording AQI levels above 400.
Sirsa said the Delhi government under the BJP was making sustained efforts to bring down pollution levels. I apologise to the people of Delhi for the rising air pollution. We are working consistently to reduce it day by day, he said, adding that no government can completely control pollution levels within nine-10 months.
Delhi's air quality, he claimed, had remained better for nearly eight months this year compared with the same period last year. Even the recent deterioration, he argued, was being tempered by measures rolled out over the past 10 months.
-- Akshita Singh, Business Standard
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