New Delhi: While Delhi continues to breathe heavily polluted air, the Delhi government is doing everything it can to combat polluting vehicles. After deploying enforcement teams from the Department of Transportation, the government has now instructed all District Magistrates (DMs) to deploy teams to all of the city’s more than 400 gas pumps to check vehicles for pollution. under certificate control (PUCC).

“Currently, our law enforcement teams have been deployed to at least 40 gas pumps across the city. Now we have asked DMs from all 11 districts to deploy civil protection volunteers to gas stations. The training will intensify after November 10, the public holiday for Chhath Puja, after which all of Delhi’s gas pumps will be covered by the training. DMs also organize meetings with owners of petrol pumps to educate motorists, ”said Ashish Kundra, Delhi Transport Commissioner.

According to government data, the state’s transportation department issued at least 850,000 challans in October against vehicles without a valid PUCC. Not having a valid PUCC results in a fine of ??10,000, six months in jail, or both.

“Between January and September, we issued 550,000 challans, against which the repression in October was massive. Our argument is clear: a valid PUCC for vehicles is not negotiable. This month, so far, we have issued over 3,000 challans. Text messages are sent to over 350,000 additional vehicle owners reminding them to get their vehicles tested for pollution, ”Kundra said.

HT first reported on October 15 the government’s plan to check vehicle PUCCs at gas stations. The latest government records seen by HT showed that Delhi currently has at least 1 million vehicles registered with the state Department of Transportation without a valid PUCC.

Measures for public transport

Although the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and Delhi Metro have not yet implemented differential tariffs to encourage off-peak travel, as foreseen by the Graduated Response Action Plan (Grap) measures for the Severe air quality category, the two public transport agencies said they were running at full capacity to make sure they were carrying maximum passengers.

Delhi has a fleet of 6,793 buses of which 3,760 are managed by the DTC and 3,033 are operated by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Limited through the State Department of Transportation. Together, these buses have a daily ridership of approximately 4.2 million per day.

“We already operate all of our buses. The utilization of our fleet at present is 100% with the exception of a few buses which must be kept off-road for maintenance or repair. Apart from this, we have already increased the number of trips on several routes to meet passenger demand because due to the restrictions of Covid-19, no standing passengers are allowed, ”said Neeraj Semwal, Managing Director of DTC.

A Delhi Metro spokesperson also said it also operates all of its trains during rush hour, as standing passengers are also not allowed on the metro.

“Delhi Metro is already operating at maximum frequency for passenger comfort despite restrictions imposed due to Covid protocols,” the DMRC said in a statement.

Unchanged parking rates

Municipalities had yet to increase parking rates three to four times, according to Grap measures applied for the “very bad” air category on October 28. City officials said parking rates were unlikely to change.

“Parking rates anywhere in Delhi are unlikely to be increased. Neither the Delhi government nor the municipalities have the will to do so at this time as municipal elections are scheduled for the city early next year, ”said a senior official from the Eastern Municipality. from Delhi who asked not to be named.