The draft policy will be placed for public opinion before being notified
The policy will effectively help us ensure that polluting vehicles do not ply in Delhi and residents can enjoy cleaner air: Gopal Rai
This affirms the commitment of the Kejriwal government towards ensuring a clean air for all citizens of Delhi: Reena Gupta
Vehicle owners will have to carry their PUCC to the fuel pump; in case the PUCC is found invalid they will have to get it reissued at the pump
NEW DELHI:
Delhi Government will soon make PUC certificate mandatory for filling fuel at pumps. The draft policy will be placed for public opinion before being notified. Environment Minister Shri Gopal Rai said that the policy will effectively help us ensure that polluting vehicles do not ply in Delhi and residents can enjoy cleaner air. Ms Reena Gupta, Advisor to the Environment Minister stated that the policy affirms the commitment of the Kejriwal government towards ensuring a clean air for all citizens of Delhi. Vehicle owners will have to carry their PUCC to the fuel pump. In case the PUCC is found invalid they will have to get it reissued at the pump.
Environment Minister Shri Gopal Rai said, “This is a very ambitious policy being brought forth by the Kejriwal Government. North India including Delhi face grave air pollution particularly in winter, With this policy in place, 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. The policy will effectively help us ensure that polluting vehicles do not ply in Delhi and residents can enjoy cleaner air. The policy is being placed for public opinion and review before being notified.”
At the same time, Ms Reena Gupta said, “the Delhi Government has taken yet another revolutionary step to link valid PUC certificates and fuel purchase. This affirms the commitment of the Kejriwal government towards ensuring a clean air for all citizens of Delhi.”
What is a PUC Certificate?
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 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.
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 refueling 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.
Technology based implementation methods to also be brought in place to minimize inconvenience
Along with approval of the policy, the government is also working on setting up technology based methods for effective implementation of this policy so as to ensure that 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. While the exact mechanisms are being worked out, these methods can also include technologies like RFID.
Delhi Government is putting holistic measures in place to combat pollution
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 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.