The Delhi Traffic Police on Thursday intensified enforcement across the city as a ban on the entry of non-Delhi private vehicles below BS-VI standards and the 'No PUC, No Fuel' rule came into force.

Traffic police personnel were seen personally checking pollution under control (PUC) certificates of vehicles before allowing refuelling at petrol pumps.

"Multiple teams of the Delhi Traffic Police have been deployed at key entry points into the city to stop non-compliant vehicles and ensure strict adherence to the curbs," a Delhi Traffic Police officer said.

The officer further said that over 100 teams were deployed at various locations across Delhi to check vehicles entering the capital without valid PUC certificates.

 According to officials, over 580 police personnel have been deployed at 126 checkpoints, including inter-state borders.

Delhi Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma on Thursday said the current Delhi government (BJP) is tackling pollution and civic issues left behind by the previous Aam Aadmi Party government led by Arvind Kejriwal. He said the issues facing the national capital did not develop overnight but are the result of "11 years of neglect" by the AAP party.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Verma listed a wide range of civic and environmental works that he said should have been completed over the past decade, including removal of garbage dumps, repair of footpaths and parks, e-waste management, cleaning of the Yamuna, maintenance of drains, sewage treatment plants, water treatment facilities, plastic waste management, road cleaning, and implementation of an electric vehicle policy.

"All these works should have been done in 11 years. If even half of the work had been completed, we would only have had to finish the remaining part. But not even a single task was completed. Before we started working, less than five per cent of these projects had been executed," Verma said.

The 6th Session of the 18th Lok Sabha will convene at 11:00 am on Thursday to discuss a range of legislative, policy, and committee matters, with a special focus on air pollution in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) under Rule 193.

MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, and Bansuri Swaraj will raise concerns over the deteriorating air pollution and its impact on public health in the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR).

#WATCH | Delhi: With effect from 12 am last night, vehicles without a PUCC (Pollution Under Control Certificate) will not receive fuel at petrol pumps in Delhi. Visuals from a PUC Centre near The Ashok Hotel. pic.twitter.com/fQrIFNVjPr

— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2025

Petrol dealers' body DPDA has flagged several challenges in implementing the Delhi government's order barring fuel sell to vehicles without valid emission check certificates.

The Delhi Petrol Dealers' Association (DPDA) said it extends "whole-hearted support" to all measures taken by the Delhi government.

However, it said that while "extraordinary steps are indeed necessary," the effective enforcement of the directive remains "an extremely difficult and arduous task" unless key concerns are addressed.

The association said Delhi's residents are suffering more from transboundary pollution than from sources within the city limits and that "measures confined solely to the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi are unlikely to yield the desired results unless uniformly implemented across the entire National Capital Region (NCR).

Dense fog enveloped large parts of Delhi-NCR on Thursday morning, significantly reducing visibility and disrupting traffic across the region.

The dense fog affected road traffic in several areas, with vehicles seen moving slowly on major arterial roads and highways connecting Delhi with cities like Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Noida. Morning commuters faced delays as low visibility prompted motorists to exercise caution.

The current visibility at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Palam is 100 metres. General visibility is expected to increase to 150 metres in the next 30 minutes and will gradually improve thereafter. 

Meanwhile, air quality in the national capital remained in the 'very poor' category, with the air quality index (AQI) recorded at 358, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

After days of 'severe' air quality, Delhi barred non-BS VI vehicles registered outside the capital. Vehicular emissions contribute over 20-40% to winter PM2.5 in the NCR, with older vehicles emitting far higher pollutants.

#WATCH | A taxi driver, Avinash Kumar Rai, says, "All my documents are up to date. Vehicles below BS-VI did not usually have pollution certificates, so this is a correct decision by the Government." https://t.co/Cc9lBuN9ra pic.twitter.com/6K9EgEgHKD

— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2025

Delhi has been hit by a dense fog since the early hours of Thursday. At least 40 flights were delayed, and several trains have been running late.

However, in an updated advisory, the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport said that all flight operations have returned to normalcy.

🔴#BREAKING | Orange alert issued amid low visibility in Delhi-NCR as a dense layer of fog engulfs the national capital
NDTV's @ShreyaG9401 joins @ParmeshwarBawa with more details pic.twitter.com/kS2GeLRZDt

— NDTV (@ndtv) December 18, 2025

Vehicles that do not have BS-VI engines will not be allowed to enter the national capital from today as part of rigorous anti-pollution measures adopted by the Delhi government. Fuel stations will not serve vehicles without a PUC certificate.