Story by Bahari Duniya | Written by Disha Sharma
The decision to allow only BS-VI–compliant vehicles is likely to impact nearly 12 lakh vehicles that enter Delhi daily from neighbouring cities such as Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Noida. Of these, over 4 lakh vehicles from Noida, around 2 lakh from Gurugram, and nearly 5.5 lakh from Ghaziabad will no longer be permitted to enter the national capital.
To enforce the new rules, around 580 police personnel will be deployed across the city for vehicle checks, with 37 enforcement vans stationed at 126 checkpoints. Teams from the Transport Department, Municipal Corporation and Food Department will also be present at petrol pumps to ensure compliance.
Delhi has already installed automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras at petrol pumps to identify vehicles that do not have valid pollution under control (PUC) certificates.
The announcement was made by Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Tuesday. The measures will remain in effect as long as Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is in force in the national capital.
The Delhi government has introduced these stringent measures after studies showed that vehicles contribute nearly 19.7 per cent of PM10 and 25.1 per cent of PM2.5 pollution during the winter months.
Work is underway to ease traffic congestion at 100 identified hotspots and create an integrated traffic system aimed at reducing waiting time and cutting pollution at traffic signals.
The Lok Sabha is set to take up a discussion on pollution today under Rule 193, following sustained demands from the Congress and other Opposition parties. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly pushed for the debate, both inside and outside Parliament.
At 5 pm, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav will respond to the short-duration discussion, which is seen as an important forum for drawing Parliament’s attention to key issues of public interest.
Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) has remained in the “Severe” to “Very Poor” range since November. At 4 pm on Wednesday, the city’s 24-hour average AQI was recorded at 334—still in the “very poor” category, though marginally better than Tuesday’s reading of 354.
Physical classes have been suspended for primary school students, while secondary and higher secondary classes have been given the option to choose between online and in-person learning. Offices have also been directed to function with only 50 per cent staff on site.
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