Overview
- Chief Justice Surya Kant’s bench ordered the Delhi government, MCD and NCR states to file action-taken plans with timelines within four weeks and said it will not hear objections to the measures.
- CAQM’s meta-analysis of 2015–2025 studies identified transport as the largest source, estimating about 23% of winter PM2.5 from vehicles and around 20% from biomass-related burning, with secondary particulates a major component.
- Fifteen long-term steps center on transport reforms, including phasing out high-emitting vehicles, strengthening PUC 2.0 with remote sensing, MLFF tolling with ANPR/RFID at border entry points, expanding Metro/RRTS, and accelerating EV transition and charging networks.
- A new high-resolution emissions inventory has been launched by a consortium led by ARAI with IIT Delhi, TERI and IITM Pune, mapping sources on a 500 m x 500 m grid to feed the Early Warning and Decision Support systems.
- CAQM revoked GRAP Stage-4 on January 21 and Stage-3 on January 22 after marginal improvement and favorable forecasts, yet CPCB readings stayed in the ‘Very Poor’ range around 312–322, with Stage-1 and Stage-2 actions still in force.