NEW DELHI: In a stringent move to combat rising air pollution, the Delhi government on Monday announced that all polluting factories in the capital will be sealed without prior notice as part of an extensive enforcement drive started from Monday.
The government said that the sealing action would be carried out jointly by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Deputy Commissioners and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) against unauthorised and polluting industrial units.
Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that slew of measures are being implemented alongside the enforcement of Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which includes work-from-home (WFH) advisories to reduce vehicular emissions. He said that action will be taken if the government finds out that a company is not fully complying with work-from-home norms.
“In Delhi, along with GRAP Stage IV, there is also a work-from-home restriction in place. Information has been received that some private companies are not fully complying with it. They are therefore being urged to strictly adhere to these norms, and if any complaint naming a private company reaches us, action will be taken against them as well,” said Sirsa.
The environment minister informed that since the “No PUC, No Fuel” rule came into effect, over two lakh vehicles have undergone Pollution Under Control (PUC) tests, of which nearly 10,000 vehicles failed to meet the standards. “This clearly indicates that the enforcement measures are being implemented seriously and yielding results,” the minister said. Notably, the government is also upgrading all PUC centres with modern equipment.