Overview
- Delhi’s air quality remained in the very poor band through the weekend, with CPCB readings in the mid-300s on Sunday and most monitoring stations showing heavy pollution.
- The government constituted an expert group on air pollution and a High-Level Implementation Committee led by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to ensure time-bound execution of measures.
- A fresh source-apportionment study is being commissioned with IIT Delhi and IITM Pune, with the DPCC set to hire 100 surveyors for a year-long audit to pinpoint dust and other local sources.
- Operational actions scaled up include a citywide cleanliness and dust-mitigation drive, Ring Road washing, stricter Metro construction controls with more than 100 anti-smog guns, and a CSR MoU with GMR for a three-year, Rs 6 crore corridor upkeep project.
- CREA reported Delhi’s November PM2.5 average at 215 µg/m³, the fourth worst in India, while DSS data identified transport as the largest local contributor at about 14.8 percent, followed by industry, residential sources and construction.