580 police personnel have been deployed for vehicle checks in Delhi.
Vehicles that do not have BS-VI engines are not being 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 pollution certificate.
Here are the top 10 points in this story:
- ​​​​​​The move to only allow cars with BS-VI engines is expected to hit 12 lakh vehicles entering Delhi from adjoining Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Noida. Over four lakh vehicles from Noida, two lakh from Gurgaon, and 5.5 lakh from Ghaziabad will be prohibited from entering the national capital.
- 580 police personnel are deployed for vehicle checks, and 37 enforcement vans have been stationed at 126 checkpoints. Personnel from the Transport Department, Municipal Corporation, and Food Department have been deployed at petrol pumps.
- Delhi has already put in place automatic number plate recognition cameras at petrol pumps, which will identify vehicles without valid PUC certificates.
- The announcement by Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa was made on Tuesday. The measures will stay in place while Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is in force in the national capital.
- The Delhi government has implemented these strict measures after studies found that vehicles are responsible for 19.7 per cent of PM 10 and 25.1 per cent of PM 2.5 pollution during winter.
- Work is in progress to eliminate traffic congestion at 100 identified hotspots and build an integrated traffic system that will cut down on time and pollution at traffic lights.
- Lok Sabha will hold a debate on pollution today under Rule 193. The Congress and other Opposition parties have been demanding this discussion, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi repeatedly pressing for it inside and outside Parliament.
- At 5 pm, the Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav will reply to the short-duration discussion, which is considered significant for drawing parliamentary attention to key public interest issues.
- Delhi's Air Quality Index or AQI has been hovering between "Severe" and "Very Poor" since November. At 4 pm on Wednesday, the city's 24-hour average AQI stood at 334, placing it in the "very poor" category, though slightly better than Tuesday's reading of 354.
- Physical classes have been discontinued for primary school while secondary and high secondary classes have been given a choice between online and physical classes. Offices have been told to operate with only 50 per cent staff on site.
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