The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi on Saturday asked the state police to launch a crackdown against diesel vehicles older than 15 years, PTI reported. The move comes after Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on Tuesday told the police and municipal bodies to start de-registering diesel trucks older than 15 years to curb the severe levels of pollution in the Capital.

Approximately 2 lakh vehicles will be affected by the move, with Special Commissioner for Transport KK Dahiya asking the Delhi Traffic Police to comply with a National Green Tribunal order on the matter. The state transport department had sent details of vehicles older than 15 years to the Delhi Police and asked them to begin impounding the automobiles immediately, according to the report. Sites to place the impounded vehicles had also been identified by police, the report added.

While air quality in the Capital has improved over the past few days, they are still far above the limits deemed safe. The improvement was attributed to the rise in wind speed from western regions instead of north-western ones, where stubble burning on farms is heavily practised. Several institutions have criticised the governments of Delhi and neighbouring states for failing to limit the levels of pollution and respirable pollutants in the air.

While the Delhi High Court on Wednesday had directed civic bodies to clean up the city in two weeks, the Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a detailed plan from the Centre on its plans to tackle the pollution in the Capital. It had made note of suggestions offered by the Environment Pollution Control Authority, environmentalist Sunita Narain and other parties and directed the government to frame a Common Minimum Programme on the issue. On Tuesday, the NGT had questioned the AAP government about measures taken to deal with the hazardous pollution levels in the region.