95% of check booths can’t measure vehicle pollution
NEW DELHI: As Delhi chokes on its foul air, the cars on its roads continue to spew poison while getting a clean bill of health every three months from the 661 pollution check centres dotting the city.
This is because only about 5% of these certified pollution check booths actually conduct emission checks while the rest lack the proper equipment and end up just handing out fresh certificates, according to the city’s transport department.
Of the 661 centres located in various fuel stations, 388 cater to petrol vehicles — the remaining being for diesel cars — but only 19 of these have the right tools. And forget about emission checks, they aren’t even equipped to carry out repairs.
“It ideally takes 15 to 20 minutes for a vehicle to be checked but here, the person at the booth does not spend more than a few minutes on a vehicle. He just tears your old certificate and issues a fresh one,” said a senior department official.
He also admitted this was long known to the department but it had only now launched inspections after the AAP government issued new pollution guidelines. Under these, the department has till July-end to check all booths for equipment, workforce and licence to operate. The absence of any of these will lead to the licence being cancelled.
With Delhi grabbing the dubious distinction of having the dirtiest air in any city in the world according to WHO, there have been several efforts to bring down pollution. The National Green Tribunal has ordered diesel vehicles over 10 years old off city roads and banned open burning of garbage. The AAP government’s maiden budget last week announced a R100-1,500 entry fee for all commercial diesel vehicles other than buses and taxis. More than 50,000 heavy vehicles enter the city every day.
For the ordinary Delhiite, driving without a valid PUC (pollution under control) certificate invites a fine of R600 under the Motor Vehicle Act 1988. The only person checking these certificates, the official said, are traffic police who “will only think that if a vehicle has a PUC certificate, it is good to go. He neither has the time nor the understanding of the process of how these certificates are issued”.
A proper emission check requires several tests, including those of the vehicle’s exhaust system to check for leaks and of the gas cap to ensure it effectively keeps vapours from escaping as fuel evaporation is a major cause of ground-level smog.