New Delhi, Nov 6 (IANS): In response to the escalating pollution and deteriorating air quality in the national capital, the Delhi Police issued 'challans' to more than 2,200 vehicles on Sunday, an official said on Monday.

Under the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act, hefty fines amounting to Rs 20,000 have been imposed on individuals operating older diesel or petrol vehicles and trucks transporting non-essential cargo within the city.

Data provided by the Delhi Traffic Police reveals that a total of 6,757 vehicles were intercepted within the city on Sunday. Out of this number, 2,216 vehicles were subjected to challans - 1,024 for lacking Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates, 217 for BS-III vehicles, and 975 for BS-IV vehicles.

These measures come in the wake of persistent efforts to combat air pollution in the city.

In October, the Delhi Traffic Police had already issued 17,989 challans for vehicles without PUC certificates.

"Additionally, 58 challans were issued to trucks found transporting sand or dust without proper covering, and 31 challans were given to owners of older diesel or petrol vehicles exceeding the age limit of 15 or 10 years," as per the data.

Last week, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai had said that the ban has been imposed on operation of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel LMVs.