Delhi’s Winter Action Plan, day one: The fines, the turned-back vehicles, what the reports differ on

What was recorded: Rs 68.4 lakh in penalties and compensation as of 5 pm on November 1.

What was checked: 14,930 vehicles, of which 1,539 were turned back and 62 impounded.

What the sites showed: 32 of 300 construction sites violated dust norms.

Where reports differ: a report on one border gives lower vehicle counts than the citywide figures.

What is not in the reports: any effect on air quality, which was still poor at several stations on November 2.

The figures are as of 5 pm on November 1, according to the same report.

Of the total, Rs 56.6 lakh came from fines on vehicles without a valid Pollution Under Control Certificate, Rs 2 lakh from vehicle-entry violations and Rs 9.8 lakh from environmental compensation at construction and demolition sites.

Officials checked 14,930 vehicles, turned back 1,539 at Delhi’s border points and impounded 62, according to Dainik Jagran English.

Another report on the Singhu border alone says Delhi Traffic Police inspected 7,279 vehicles, turned back 714 and impounded 38, so the counts depend on the area covered.

There were 127 challans for vehicle-entry violations and 566 challans for missing pollution certificates, according to the report.

Delhi Traffic Police issued 493 of the pollution-certificate challans, worth Rs 49.3 lakh, and the Transport Department issued 73, worth Rs 7.3 lakh.

Inspectors visited 300 construction sites and found 32 breaking dust-control norms, according to the report.

They issued 17 closure directions and 19 show-cause notices, and the Rs 9.8 lakh environmental compensation was imposed on the violating sites.

Exempted infrastructure projects were not found violating dust-control requirements, according to Dainik Jagran English.

Non-Delhi-registered vehicles below the BS-VI emission standard are barred from entering Delhi until January 31, with exemptions for CNG and electric vehicles and essential services.

Dust-generating demolition and outdoor civil construction are restricted, except for specified essential public infrastructure.

Seasonal haze over northern India, NASA MODIS satellite image of 2024 (file image), Wikimedia Commons, public domain