The Transport Department, on Friday, launched a special campaign against overloaded trucks amid rising concerns over the Capital's air quality. An estimated 1 lakh goods carriers, including trucks of various specifications, enter the Capital on a daily basis.
According to a source, the drive will be held between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. daily and will see the prosecution of overloaded goods carriers which, due to the magnitude of their cargo, emit relatively more effluents in addition to posing the risk of causing accidents due to being overloaded.
‘Biggest campaign yet’
“Action to seize overloaded trucks has been initiated and the drive is being enforced at all border check points; the Department has deployed as many as11 teams on key locations,” said the source.
According to a senior government official, the drive is the biggest campaign launched against overloaded trucks so far. Teams deployed to enforce it on the borders have been instructed not to allow overloaded trucks to cross into the Capital.
At the same time, if an overloaded truck is caught in the interior parts of Delhi, it was to be seized on the spot. “Overloaded trucks significantly add to the pollution of ambient air. Emissions from such vehicles is significantly over the fixed standard. The penalty that will be enforced will be as per the amount of extra tonnage that they are found lugging,” the source explained.
₹4,000 fine
The official said ₹4,000 would be levied for every extra tonne that such vehicles would be found carrying. Vehicles seized for the offence can only be retrieved from designated traffic courts.
According to the source, the Department had also earmarked space to park seized overloaded trucks in each district. Meanwhile, the Department continues to pursue a drive against polluting inter-State buses utilising the Capital's three inter-State bus terminals, according to a source.
State roadways’s buses
A source claimed that as per the latest figures of prosecution, of the buses checked on successive days last week, 30 of the 60 buses belonging to different State roadways corporations were found to be polluting more than the prescribed standards despite having pollution under control (PUC) certificates on the first day of enforcement.
The second day, 17 of 60 buses were found to be polluting more than the standard and, so far, 153 buses of various State roadways have been checked. “Notices are being issued to various State Roadways corporations across Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Punjab and Rajasthan. Of the total number of buses checked, two-thirds failed the PUC examination,” the source claimed.
