What’s polluting Delhi? New study to identify key sources

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The Delhi government has commissioned a new expert study on the sources of air pollution, the sixth since 2010. The announcement was made on Saturday by Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa amid concerns over the city's "very poor" air quality.

He said the government will sign an MoU with IIT Delhi and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, to undertake a fresh assessment to determine the origins, magnitude and local characteristics of pollution. “It is essential to know the source of air pollution,” he said, adding that the study will map both citywide and neighbourhood-level pollution patterns and help update hotspot identification.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the data currently being used to identify pollution sources is seven years old. The report also noted that although a new source-apportionment study was completed in 2023, Delhi’s clean-air action plan — which guides various departments on pollution-control measures — has not been updated since 2018.

The 2023 study, however, was not accepted by the government.

Highlighting the gap, Sirsa said, “One important and unfortunate fact I want to point out is that the last source-apportionment study was done in 2018.”

The Minister’s remarks follow a directive from the Prime Minister’s Office on October 23 to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) — the apex pollution-control body — to expedite preparation of a new emissions inventory and source-apportionment studies for Delhi-NCR.

Pointing out that previous governments relied on outdated lists that identified just 13 pollution hotspots, the Minister said Delhi Police has now marked 62 “high-traffic” pollution hubs, the report added.

He also announced that the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) will hire 100 surveyors to conduct a year-long, door-to-door audit of roads to inspect potholes and assess dust-mitigation efforts. The exercise will include third-party checks to verify the accuracy of departmental reports on road maintenance and dust control.

In addition, District Magistrates (DMs) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Divisional Commissioners have been directed to carry out a week-long survey of all industrial areas — including legal, resettlement and non-conforming zones — to identify polluting units and track illegally operating industries.

On enforcement, the Minister said that 750 construction sites have been inspected, 556 notices issued and penalties worth ₹7 crore imposed, with 48 sites ordered to shut.

Over the past two days, 230 inspections were undertaken across departments such as the MCD, PWD, DDA, DSIIDC and DMRC, resulting in fines amounting to ₹1 crore for violations by both private and government entities, he said.

Sirsa added that the number of challans issued for vehicle-emission violations under Pollution Under Control (PUC) rules has doubled over last year. “Till this time last year, 4,33,000 challans had been issued. This year, we have issued nearly 7,97,000 — approximately 8 lakh PUC challans.”

A total of 1,823 enforcement teams are currently deployed to monitor dust and burning violations. So far, 536 challans have been issued for dust-mitigation failures and 633 for open burning, he said.

He added that thousands of heaters have also been distributed across 1,407 Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) — part of a citywide initiative to distribute 10,000 heaters so that labourers and security personnel can keep warm without resorting to bonfires.

The Minister further noted that, under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s directions, orders have been issued against biomass burning, with Delhi Police, MCD and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) instructed to take strict action against violators.

He also said the Environment Department is funding 1,000 litter pickers and 100 additional Mechanical Road Sweepers (MRS), including compact models for roads less than 60 feet wide. A senior CAQM official said the move will help extend road cleaning and water-sprinkling operations to unauthorised colonies and narrow-lane neighbourhoods.