Amid the Supreme Court pulling up the Delhi Police over lapses in implementation of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) stage IV, the traffic police have for the first time roped in the local police to heighten its scrutiny over violators with increased barricading and presence of police across the national Capital. Additionally, the Delhi Police has slapped over 1.75 lakh vehicle owners for non-possession of Pollution under Control (PUC) certificates since the implementation of GRAP on October 15.

According to police sources, the traffic police are coordinating with the Deputy Commissioner of Police of each of the 15 districts and provided challaning machines to the local police. Tightening its grip on violators under the anti-pollution measures in force amid the hazardous levels of air quality index (aqi) in the city, police have deployed about 500 police personnel on about 150 pickets in the city. On an average each picket has about three to four police personnel on each of these pickets, sources said.

Additionally, 88 prakhar vans, the anti-street crime vans, are being used to patrol the areas with police sources stating that on an average about 200 to 250 challans are being issued on an average in every district per day. According to official data, a total of 1,75,197 vehicles have issued PUC challans till November 26 since the implementation of GRAP.On Tuesday alone, the Delhi Traffic Police imposed 7,109 challans for violations regarding PUC certificates. A fine of Rs 10,000 is imposed on motorists for not having a valid PUC certificate. These challans get released from courts.

It has also impounded 6,485 over aged vehicles while issuing challans on 590 vehicle owners for carrying uncovered Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste till Tuesday. The traffic police, according to official data, diverted 16,219 non-destined trucks through the eastern and western peripheral areas.

To reduce the traffic on the roads of the city, it has decongested 429 congested points since GRAP stage III came into force on November 15. Under the GRAP stage 3 guidelines imposed across Delhi on November to deal with the worsening air quality since November 15, the official data revealed that 10,239 Light Motor Vehicles (BS III petrol and BS IV diesel) were found plying in Delhi and in the districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar, which were subsequently challaned.

According to Section 194(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, vehicles violating the GRAP III restriction would be fined Rs 20,000. During the restrictions, Diesel and petrol inter-state buses, except for BS VI diesel, from the NCR cities to Delhi are also banned. It also fined 119 diesel operated Medium Goods Vehicle, registered in Delhi and 241 Light Commercial Vehicle registered outside Delhi.

The police also checked 3,971 inter-state buses at Delhi border in which 764 were stopped. It also checked 1,45,066 trucks at the border area, prohibiting 17,780 of them to enter. The personnel also issued challans to 121 Heavy Good Vehicles, registered in Delhi, since the implementation of GRAP stage-IV since October 18.

Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ajay Chaudhary said, “The police department is working round the clock to try our best to improve the aqi in Delhi and have intensified action against those violating norms.”

Addl/CP (Traffic) Satyaveer Singh Katara added that the police will continue its drive and ensure that tough measures are implemented on the roads. “We are doing the best we can to take strict actions against violators and help to ensure that these do not make the aqi worse in the national Capital. We are continuously carrying drives and deploying extra personnels to manage traffic,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Shashank Jaiswal said.