With the monsoon withdrawing and winter pollution expected to rise in Delhi-NCR, India's government has finalised a standing action plan. The meeting on Monday, 28 September, chaired by Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav, included Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa and officials of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). Dhaka Tribune reported it citing The Hindu.

From 1 November, 50 percent of staff at government and private offices will work from home, and vehicles registered outside Delhi that do not meet BS-VI emission standards will face restrictions on entry. The measures run until 31 January 2027, during which parking fees at authorised lots will double, except at Delhi Metro's own parking. Similar measures were taken in 2024 and 2025.

No vehicle without a valid Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) will get fuel, a rule to be enforced at 500 fuel stations fitted with automatic number-plate recognition, which caught about 7,055 BS-III and overage vehicles in the past 12 months. The chief minister's office said petrol vehicles over 15 years old and diesel vehicles over 10 will also be refused fuel, without saying from when.

Dust-raising demolition and outdoor construction will stop from 1 November to 31 January, and all construction and demolition from 10 December to 20 January. An AI-enabled command and control centre will monitor industrial pollution; air-quality monitoring stations have risen from 47 to 60 and 334 enforcement teams have been formed. Surveys of 11,271 factories from December 2025 to 26 September led to 2,283 polluting units being shut or sealed.

Delhi produces about 13,500 tonnes of solid waste a day and processes 7,642; new capacity for another 5,900 tonnes a day is expected by October. Hisham Mundol, chief adviser for India at the Environmental Defense Fund, told The Hindu that clean air all year should be the goal, with steady action on transport, industry, construction, waste and crop-residue burning, planned for the whole region rather than Delhi alone.

The report is by Dhaka Tribune's international desk.

Photo: wili hybrid / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Source: Dhaka Tribune