Delhi air pollution crackdown: Over 2.6 lakh vehicles fined, ₹260 crore collected

In an extensive crackdown on vehicles without Pollution Under Control Certificates (PUCC), Delhi authorities have penalised more than 2.6 lakh vehicles and collected over ₹260 crore in fines in just 50 days. This action is part of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), implemented to combat the city's severe air pollution.

From October 16 to December 5, the Delhi government's Environment Department issued 2,60,258 challans. The breakdown of challans across the four stages of GRAP is as follows:

Stage 1 (October 16-22): 12,756 challans

Stage 2 (October 22-November 14): 1,11,235 challans

Stage 3 (November 15-17): 13,938 challans

Stage 4 (November 18-December 5): 1,14,089 challans

Since December 5, when Delhi reverted to Stage 2, 8,240 more challans have been issued. Each motorist without a pollution certificate faces a ₹10,000 fine.

On November 17, Delhi's air quality index (AQI) reached 450, entering the “severe plus” category for the first time this year. This led the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to impose Stage 4 measures, the strictest under GRAP. The AQI on the morning of November 18 was recorded at 494, the second-worst in six years, triggering a complete ban on non-essential trucks entering Delhi. Exceptions were made for vehicles carrying essential goods or using clean fuel like LNG, CNG, BS-VI diesel, or electric vehicles. Non-essential light commercial vehicles from outside the city were also banned, except EVs and CNG/BS-VI diesel vehicles.

GRAP, first implemented in 2017, is a set of measures designed to curb air pollution in the capital and its surrounding districts, activated based on the severity of the pollution levels.