Delhi-NCR authorities are preparing stricter checks on vehicles during the winter pollution season, including inspections of buses entering Delhi, tighter action against polluting vehicles and the diversion of heavy trucks not bound for the capital to the Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways.
The measures were discussed at a virtual meeting held on Sunday by Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa with traffic police and police officials from Noida, Faridabad, Gurugram, Sonipat and Bahadurgarh. The Delhi Traffic Police Special Commissioner and the Transport Commissioner also attended the meeting, according to a report by Jagran.
Under the proposed enforcement plan, vehicles entering Delhi-NCR border areas will face more intensive checks. Officials will verify pollution under control certificates, or PUC certificates, and take action against vehicles found violating emission rules. The action may include challans and vehicle seizure in accordance with applicable regulations.
The meeting also focused on buses arriving in Delhi from other cities. Such buses will be required to comply with prescribed fuel and emission standards. The report said that only electric, compressed natural gas or BS-VI diesel buses will be allowed to operate, while other buses will not be permitted. Signboards will be installed at border checkpoints to communicate the restrictions, alongside public-awareness campaigns.
Heavy vehicles that are not travelling to Delhi will be directed to use the Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways, in line with Supreme Court directions cited in the report. Authorities also stressed the enforcement of restrictions applicable to older petrol and diesel vehicles. The objective is to prevent through-traffic from entering the capital and to reduce vehicle emissions within the city.
Traffic management at NCR borders and congestion-prone routes will be strengthened as part of the plan. Additional traffic personnel may be deployed where required to keep vehicles moving and reduce the emissions produced by vehicles standing in long queues. This places congestion control alongside vehicle inspection as a component of the winter pollution response.
The Delhi Traffic Police told the meeting that more than 10,000 challans related to traffic and pollution violations are being issued on average each day. The authorities also plan to intensify road-water sprinkling, mechanised cleaning and dust-control drives. Additional district-level enforcement teams were discussed for restrictions that may be introduced later under the Graded Response Action Plan, or GRAP.
The measures bring several agencies and jurisdictions into a single enforcement exercise, but their implementation will depend on coordination at Delhi-NCR borders and on traffic routes used by freight and intercity buses. The next steps identified in the meeting are the deployment of enforcement personnel where needed, installation of restriction-related signs at border points and continued action against vehicles that fail fuel, emission or pollution-control requirements.
