NEW DELHI: The CAG report on Delhi’s Environment has revealed that the capacity at VIU Jhuljhuli, Delhi’s only automated fitness testing centre, was grossly under-utilised.
Data shows that of 38,807 vehicles inspected there between 2017 and 2020, as many as 25,540 didn’t go through the emission test.
Reportedly, 45% were diesel-run vehicles, contributing to a significant share of emissions. The audit said 1,078 vehicles failed fitness tests between September 8, 2017 and February 7, 2019, because they didn’t pass the emission test.
These vehicles failed to appear for a re-test. DoT’s database claimed that 1,068 of them were e-tested and issued fitness certificates at VIU Jhuljhuli itself.
Govt asked to probe cases where vehicles not re-tested
The CAG has recommended that the government investigate cases where vehicles were not re-tested and plug loopholes so that such cases do not recur. The audit called a “serious lapse” 25 cases where the vehicle got the fitness certificate without the mandatory emission test even though that vehicle had failed it during its previous visit three months earlier. In 552 cases where the vehicles passed all four test categories, they were shown as failing in the overall fitness check, as per the report.
The audit further noted that providing fitness certificates to 60 percent of inspected vehicles without emission tests rendered the automated facilities redundant and questioned the testing system’s reliability.
Tests not conducted as per the rules at VIU Burari
VIU Burari caters to over 90 percent of fitness tests conducted by GNCTD. Against the daily capacity of 800 vehicles, the daily working capacity per inspector (February 2020) was 100-140 vehicles. This equation means sparing not more than five minutes per vehicle in eight hours of testing.
This is also because VIU Burari suffered from a shortage of inspectors. Only three inspectors were on its payroll. As a result, vehicles were issued fitness certificates based on visual inspections.