Indore: Illegal Pollution Testing Centre Sealed

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A joint team from the Transport Department, Indore Municipal Corporation, and Pollution Control Board conducted surprise inspections at five pollution testing centres in the city and sealed one centre which was operating illegally and issuing the pollution certificates using IDs from other states.

The officials have also launched an investigation to determine if more illegal certificates were issued using other state IDs. Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Pradeep Sharma said that Indore has over 100 authorised pollution testing centres, out of which 60 have already been linked to the NIC portal.

Only certificates issued by these online centres will be considered valid, and efforts are being made to bring the remaining centres online soon. He added that during joint operation, two loading vehicles were found running without valid pollution certificates and documents after which these vehicles were seized.

A large-scale campaign has been launched across the city to check pollution certificates and take action against violators. Failure to produce a valid pollution certificate will result in a fine of Rs 1,000 for private vehicles and Rs 5,000 for commercial vehicles.

"Drivers are advised to obtain pollution certificates only from authorised online centres. If anyone is issuing certificates using IDs from other states, those will be considered illegal. A list of authorised online centres will be published soon."

-Pradeep Sharma Regional Transport Officer