Chandigarh, April 24: The Haryana government has announced plans to set up 23 additional air quality monitoring stations in the National Capital Region (NCR), increasing the total to 52 by July.
The state government will soon implement an aggregator policy to regulate transport services, aiming to completely eliminate legacy waste within 11 months. This information was revealed during a review meeting on air quality management in NCR, chaired by Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi.
Rastogi instructed all departments to adhere strictly to the timelines and emphasized the need for continuous coordination among various sectors for long-term improvements in air quality.
He directed municipal commissioners from NCR areas, as well as the Gurugram, Faridabad, and Sonipat urban development authorities, to identify at least five major roads in their jurisdictions and develop or redevelop them as dust-free model roads.
Rastogi also called for a comprehensive plan with clear timelines for all phases, from preparing Detailed Project Reports (DPR) to completing final works. He stressed that pollution from transport, construction, demolition activities, and industries must be controlled through precise planning and timely action.
Additional Chief Secretary (Environment) Sudhir Raj Pal highlighted the need to manage vehicular pollution across the region. He insisted on strict enforcement of pollution regulations and called for intensified inspection campaigns in high-traffic areas to identify and take action against vehicles that contribute significantly to pollution.
Pal also suggested adopting modern technology to monitor emissions from moving vehicles and issuing fines based on that data.
Chief Secretary Rastogi instructed the transport department to collect data from Pollution Under Control (PUC) centers, including cases where certificates were denied or vehicles were found to exceed pollution standards.
Principal Secretary (Transport) Raja Shekhar Vundru announced that the department will soon implement an aggregator policy to regulate cab and ride-sharing services. This policy aims to organize large fleets of private vehicles to ensure compliance with emission standards and reduce pollution from transport.
He noted that, following the directives of the Air Quality Management Commission, diesel auto-rickshaws have been nearly completely phased out in major districts of NCR. The remaining areas will see a phased removal by December 31.
Vundru also provided information about the ‘Naya Safar Yojana,’ which will replace approximately 190,000 old trucks and 16,000 buses with cleaner BS-6, CNG, and electric vehicles, accompanied by financial incentives.
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