The Delhi government will soon make the 'pollution under control' (PUC) certificate mandatory for filling fuel at petrol pumps. The draft policy will be placed for public opinion before being notified, the official statement from the Office of Environment Minister said on Friday.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said, "This is a very ambitious policy being brought by our government. North India including Delhi face grave air pollution particularly in winter, with this policy, vehicles will be mandated to have their PUC certificate with them at the fuelling station. Thus, pollution levels of every single vehicle in the state will be kept in check from time to time."
Rai said, "the policy will effectively help us ensure that polluting vehicles do not ply in Delhi and residents can enjoy cleaner air."
Reena Gupta, Advisor to the Environment Minister said, "the Delhi Government has taken yet another revolutionary step to link valid PUC certificates and fuel purchase. This affirms the commitment of the chief minister Arvind Kejriwal government towards ensuring clean air for all citizens of Delhi."
Vehicle owners will have to carry their PUC certificate to the fuel pump. In case the PUCC is found invalid they will have to get it reissued at the pump, the release read.
The pollution under control (PUC) certificate is an important means for vehicles issued through registered PUC centres to control vehicular tailpipe emissions.
Delhi has around 966 such centres spread over 10 zones. They are instrumental in monitoring vehicular pollution and certifying the fitness of vehicles as per emission norms. Random checks are also done by Pollution Level Test Inspectors to ensure that accurate certificates are being issued by the PUC centres, the release said.
As per department experience, PUCC enforcement is highly effective when conducted at fuel stations, thus it has been proposed to make PUC certification mandatory for refuelling of vehicles at Petrol Pumps in Delhi in view of the importance of non-polluting vehicles on road amidst the poor air quality levels of Delhi, it added.
Along with the approval of the policy, the government is also working on setting up technology-based methods for effective implementation of this policy to ensure those vehicle owners as well as petrol pump owners, don't face any inconvenience and there are no long queues because of checking of PUC certificate.
It is noteworthy that the Delhi government has been taking effective vehicular pollution initiatives throughout.
These can broadly be categorized into Technical and Non-Technical Measures. The Non-Technical instruments include measures like a better traffic management system, augmentation in public transport systems, generating mass awareness, and drives for checking adulteration.
The Technical Instruments for controlling vehicular pollution include improvement in vehicular technology, improvement in the quality of fuels, switching over to cleaner vehicles as well as fuels, implementation of stringent emission norms for both new and in-use vehicles, and an efficient PUCC system, it said in a press statement.
( With inputs from ANI )
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