Gurugram, Nov 21 (IANS): Gurugram Traffic Police has issued over Rs 19 lakh challans for not having a valid Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) in October, an officer said on Tuesday.

According to data shared by the police, as many as 194 vehicles were challenged in the previous month. The violators were not able to produce a PUC certificate.

"The GRAP-4 has been scaled down to stage 3 but it also restricts the plying of particular vehicles. We issued 194 challans in the previous month for not having a pollution certificate. Warnings have been issued along with fines. Those not deterred now will face appropriate action," said DCP (Traffic) Virender Vij.

It may be noted that GRAP bars plying of BS3 petrol and BS4 diesel engine cars in the NCR.

The Delhi Police have been conducting special drives for the compliance of norms. The vehicles plying without valid PUCC are booked under section 190 (2) Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 & 115 Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, and the prescribed punishment is a fine of Rs 10,000 including disqualification of license for three months during the first offence.

It may be noted that Gurugram air quality has shown slight improvement with the average dropping from "very poor" to the "poor" category.

An AQI of 347 while the average AQI across the city remained around 250.

Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has issued over 200 challans of Rs 23 lakh in the last month for GRAP violations.