No PUC certificate, no fuel from Oct 1; UP targets 35% pollution cut in 2026 in NCR districts

This measure aims to curb severe air pollution, with the state targeting a 30-35 per cent reduction by 2026 through coordinated efforts and public awareness.

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Vehicles without a valid Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) will not be provided fuel at petrol pumps in NCR districts in Uttar Pradesh from October 1 as part of measures to curb air pollution, Chief Secretary S P Goyal said on Wednesday.

Eight districts of UP — Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat and Shamli — are part of the National Capital Region (NCR), which also comprises districts from Haryana, Rajasthan and entire Delhi.

Air pollution in the Delhi-NCR remains a severe public health challenge, particularly during winter months.

Chairing a high-level review meeting on air pollution control and improvement of air quality in the NCR, Goyal said the UP government has set a target of reducing air pollution levels in the NCR region by 30-35 per cent during 2026.

He directed all departments concerned to ensure coordinated and effective action for controlling pollution and improving air quality in the Delhi-NCR region.

“The participation of citizens should also be ensured by creating awareness among them,” the Chief Secretary said, according to an official statement.

The meeting reviewed ongoing measures and future action plans related to vehicle emissions, industrial pollution, road dust, construction and demolition waste management, expansion of green cover and stubble management.

Under the “No PUCC, No Fuel” system, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras will be installed at 1,041 petrol pumps across NCR districts, it said.

The government is also working to phase out old and polluting vehicles and promote BS-VI, CNG and electric vehicles under the “Naya Safar” scheme.

According to the statement, around 26.19 lakh end-of-life vehicles have been identified in NCR districts, of which 37,156 were scrapped and 460 seized between January and April 2026.

To promote clean public transport, a target has been set to operate 975 electric buses in Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Meerut. At present, 100 e-buses are operational in these cities, it stated.

The meeting was informed that 43 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) were planned in the Uttar Pradesh NCR region. Of these, 25 are already operational, while the remaining 18 will be installed by October 2026, according to the statement.

On industrial pollution control, officials said 725 air-polluting industries have been identified, of which 613 have been connected with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) server through Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS).

Air pollution control devices have been made mandatory for 665 industries, with installation completed in 179 units and work underway in 100 others.

For controlling road dust, redevelopment of 1,792 km of roads in Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Meerut has been planned at an estimated cost of Rs 3,666 crore. So far, 143.8 km of road redevelopment work has been completed.

The state has also assessed the need for 108 mechanised road sweeping machines, of which 45 are currently available and procurement of 50 more is underway, it stated.

For construction and demolition waste management, 29 of the proposed 37 secondary collection centres have become operational, while work on the remaining centres is in progress.

GPS tracking, geo-tagging and Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC)-based monitoring systems are being developed for construction sites, it added.

Officials said scientific collection and processing of municipal solid waste is being strengthened in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Meerut.

Noida is also developing a 600-tonnes-per-day torrefied charcoal project and a 300-tonnes-per-day biogas project.

The action plan also includes plantation drives, stubble management, compressed biogas plants, biomass utilisation, electric vehicle charging stations, battery swapping stations, metro and RRTS expansion, last-mile connectivity and public awareness campaigns, according to the statement.