11,776 challans issued over 24 hours as Delhi intensifies anti-pollution drive: Minister

New Delhi, Dec 19 (PTI) The Delhi government has intensified its crackdown on polluting vehicles, issuing over 11,700 challans over 24 hours as part of a multi-department drive to curb air pollution in the national capital, officials said on Friday.

Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said enforcement teams issued 11,776 challans against polluting and non-compliant vehicles over the 24-hour period, starting at around 7 pm on Thursday.

Multiple departments, including the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, are working round-the-clock to tackle emission sources across the city.

He said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, the government has adopted a multi-sectoral approach combining vehicle enforcement, dust control, waste management and road cleaning, which has led to a noticeable improvement in air quality compared to previous winters.

Meanwhile, on the dust-mitigation front, civic agencies removed over 12,164 metric tonnes of garbage and carried out mechanical sweeping on 2,068 kilometres of roads. Water sprinkling was conducted on nearly 1,830 km of roads, while mobile anti-smog guns covered more than 5,500 km, an official statement said.

Around 160 anti-smog guns have also been deployed at major construction sites for continuous dust suppression, the statement read.

The minister said large-scale waste management efforts are underway, with an average of about 30,000 metric tonnes of legacy waste bio-mined in the last 24 hours.

As part of citizen grievance redressal, 57 complaints received through platforms such as the 311 helpline, Green Delhi App, SAMEER and social media were addressed, he added.

To ensure compliance with transport norms, authorities stopped and diverted 542 non-destined trucks and decongested 34 traffic choke points across the city.

Additionally, Sirsa also urged citizens and institutions to cooperate with pollution-control measures, saying the fight against air pollution requires collective responsibility to sustain improvements in air quality. PTI NSM PRK PRK