Amid poor AQI, over 2,000 vehicles penalised in Gurugram

Tribune News Service

Gurugram, November 20

Despite clear mandate and warnings over compliance of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), Gurugram roads continue to see unchecked plying of Bharat Stage (BS)3 and BS4 cars.

The Gurugram traffic police, that has already issued over 2,000 challans, has again issued a warning to commuters to follow the anti-pollution mandate.

“The GRAP-4 has been scaled down to stage 3 but it also bars plying of these particular vehicles. Repeated notices and warnings have been issued along with challans. Those not deterring now will face more stringent action,” said DCP (Traffic) Virender Vij.

It may be noted GRAP bars plying of BS3 petrol and BS4 diesel engine cars in the NCR. The Delhi Police have been conducting special drives for the compliance of norms.

In Gurugram, the lack of affordable public transport is one of the key reasons behind the large-scale defiance of orders.

“The restrictions can be implemented in Delhi where they have multiple options, ranging from metro, buses to metered autos but not here. We have limited metro and bus connectivity. The cabs are too costly for us,” said Nitesh Yadav, a marketing executive who commutes daily from Wazirabad village to Udyog Vihar.

Following the announcement of ban, the city administration is flooded with complaints against auto drivers for not adhering to meter system and charging extra owing to GRAP implementation.

It may be noted that Gurugram air quality has shown slight improvement with the average dropping from “very poor” to the “poor” category.

The Sector 51 area is still in “very poor” category, with AQI of 347 while the average AQI across city remained around 250.

An MCG officials said they have issued over 200 challans in the last one month for GRAP violations, the biggest defaulters being small and big construction sites.

Violators to face music

The GRAP has been scaled down to stage 3 but it also bars plying of these particular vehicles. Repeated notices and warnings have been issued along with challans. Those not deterring now will face more stringent action. — Virender Vij, dcp (traffic)

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