Delhi Air Pollution: 340 buses impounded, 162 four-wheelers fined for violating GRAP III restrictions 

In view of hazardous levels of air pollution prevailing in the national capital, the Delhi Transport Department’s enforcement teams have issued fines to 162 cars and SUVs for violating GRAP III restrictions. Officials have imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the owners of these vehicles for their violations under the Motor Vehicles Act. The GRAP stage III restrictions, part of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), involve a ban on the operation of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel four-wheelers in the Delhi-NCR region. As part of the drive, enforcement teams are being deployed in the entire Delhi in shifts, with a focus on 13 pollution hotspots - Rohini, Dwarka, Okhla, Punjabi Bagh, Vivek Vihar, Wazirpur, Jahangirpuri, RK Puram, Bawana, Narela, Mundka, Mayapuri and Anand Vihar, the transport department officials said. As many as 84 teams for enforcement of restrictions related to four-wheelers and 30 for two-wheelers are working in shifts round the clock. Under the GRAP III restrictions, owners of 162 BS III petrol and BS IV diesel light motor vehicles were challaned with Rs 20,000 fine till Saturday. At present, only BS VI emission standards-compliant light motor vehicles, electric vehicles, CNG vehicles, including buses are allowed to ply on the national capital’s roads. So far, 301 overloaded trucks have been impounded while 3,683 vehicle owners were challaned for not having pollution under check, officials said. Also, 340 buses were impounded for different violations and 4,031 challans were issued to owners for parking violations, they said. The enforcement teams are being supervised by nine teams led by inspectors. Eighteen enforcement teams are deployed on border areas around hotspots to monitor overloaded trucks, heavy vehicles, and BS III and BS IV light motor vehicles. Sixteen other teams were working in shift of 4 PM to 12 AM, to tackle the congestion due to inter-state buses and other vehicles at major choke points. Further, 41 teams were deployed on identified 22 stretches of the Inner Ring Road and Outer Ring Road in two shifts to monitor and catch offending vehicles. Motorcycle patrolling teams numbering 39 were deployed from 9 AM to 6 PM to enforce PUCC violations, they added. With PTI inputs.