Soaring AQI levels makes Durgapur residents, patients feel uneasy
Om Sher Bahadur, a patient from Nepal is struggling to negotiate with the growing air pollution in Durgapur.
To curb vehicular pollution, the Delhi government has impounded 1,754 vehicles, including diesel cars older than ten years or petrol cars over 15 years old.
The data was shared in a compiled Action Taken Report (ATR) prepared by the Department of Environment & Forest, showing the figure from November 17 till December 6.
As many as 749 vehicle owners have been fined and 1,417 have been prosecuted during the same time frame.
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According to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2015 and the Supreme Court in 2018, any registered diesel vehicle over 10 years old and petrol vehicle over 15 years old cannot operate in the National Capital Region. However, bringing a big relief to the owners of diesel vehicles older than 10 years, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on November 18 announced that once a vehicle is retrofitted with the electric kit, it can continue to ply on roads of the national capital beyond 10 years.
Meanwhile, 7,79,304 visibly polluting vehicles and those without Pollution Under Control Certificates (PUCC) have also been inspected during the same time frame. Of these, 21,449 have been issued challans, 7,168 have been closed and 21,679 vehicle owners have been prosecuted.
According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), vehicular emissions contribute the highest share to Delhi’s PM 2.5 levels, in terms of local sources of pollution.
A total of 27,038 intersections, busy market areas, unauthorised parking lots etc have been monitored to ensure smooth flow of traffic and avoiding congestion.
In addition to that, to keep a check on industrial pollution, 1,432 industries have been examined in total, of which 10 have been closed and another 10 fined for using unapproved fuels.
The report also mentioned that all the inspected industries had switched to Piped Natural Gas (PNG) where connectivity is available.
As per CSE, industries have contributedA9.9-13.7 per cent of air in the national capital between October 24 and November 8, this year.
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