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No fuel without PUCC, curbs on entry of non-BS6 vehicles to be permanent in Delhi, says Sirsa
Delhi environment minister Sirsa said that petrol will not be provided to vehicles which do not have a valid PUCC until further orders.
Two restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)-4 have been made permanent as part of efforts to curb the ‘severe’ air pollution in the Capital, Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said.
Announcing the permanent curbs, Sirsa said that petrol will not be provided to vehicles which do not have a valid Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) until further orders, PTI news agency reported.
The Delhi government had also notified this as a permanent measure earlier this week. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta and makes it compulsory for vehicle owners to possess a valid PUCC.
“From now on, it has been decided that out of the restrictions under GRAP-4, we have made two restrictions permanent. The first one is PUCC. You will not get petrol anywhere without a PUCC certificate until next orders,” Sirsa said on Friday.
The second GRAP-4 rule to be enforced indefinitely until further orders is the restriction of entry of vehicles entering Delhi from outside the city which do not meet the Bharat Stage VI (BS6) emission standards. “Vehicles from outside Delhi that are below Bharat Stage VI (BS6) will also face restrictions on entering Delhi,” PTI quoted Sirsa as saying.
The above two measures will stay in place despite the prevailing air quality levels. According to officials, the policy will serve as a long-term compliance mechanism to reduce vehicular emissions, according to an earlier HT report.
Sirsa had earlier said that vehicular emissions were among the biggest contributors to air pollution. “A vehicle running without a valid PUC certificate is no less than committing a crime against Delhi’s air,” the Delhi environment minister added.
Delhi's air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category for the second consecutive day on Saturday, after a slight improvement earlier this week. The average AQI reading on Saturday at 10 pm stood at 391.
After the AQI slipped to ‘severe’ levels on Tuesday (December 23), following which it improved to the ‘poor’ category, with the average AQI being 271 on Wednesday. The air quality again deteriorated on Friday.
