Preliminary findings of an EPCA drive have pointed towards widespread corruption and gross irregularities in the pollution under control (PUC) certification stations across Delhi-NCR.
The findings, part of a preliminary report prepared by the Supreme Court-appointed body, were discussed at a meeting today. The report will be submitted to the apex court next week.
The drive was undertaken by the Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) in accordance with a Supreme Court direction.
There are around 962 PUC stations in Delhi, while there are hundreds more across the National Capital Region encompassing parts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The members of the team that undertook the study were "threatened and harassed" by the touts operating at these centres.
The EPCA has expressed displeasure over the PUC mechanism in Delhi, despite it being linked to a central feed which receives real-time data from all the PUC stations.
The draft report points out that the data may be centrally linked, but there is no mechanism on the ground to process such a huge amount of data, besides mentioning "a complete lack of oversight".
It also highlights the "lax norms" when it comes to the various tests a vehicle has to undergo.
In February, five PUC centres in Gurugram, which were found issuing certificates over WhatsApp without actually testing the vehicles, were sealed by the authorities.
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