Opinion Delhi’s clean air programme should focus first on air quality monitoring, checking dust emissions

Delhi’s new government has listed air pollution control as one of its priority concerns. It must now devise an effective plan and put words into action. For starters, it should learn from its predecessor’s experiences and failures. The AAP government acknowledged the complexity of Delhi’s air pollution problem but often used that to paper over its abdications. The locations of air quality monitoring stations in the capital, for instance, did not fulfil the requirements laid down by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). This revelation is part of a Comptroller and Auditor General report that wasn’t tabled in the Delhi Assembly by the city’s previous dispensation. The report, which was finally discussed in the assembly in the first week of this month, notes that the city’s Air Quality Index was calculated without proper data. Another analysis by the non-profit Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air shows that Delhi recorded the highest PM 10 (particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometres) levels among the 130 cities covered under the Centre’s National Clean Air Programme in the financial year 2024-25. The capital’s average PM 10 concentration in this period was four to five times higher than the level recommended by the WHO.

Most of Delhi’s 40 pollution monitoring stations are located in residential areas. It’s no rocket science that they should be placed in industrial areas, commercial complexes, traffic junctions and other crowded regions. Similarly, tackling PM 10 is among the less difficult aspects of Delhi’s pollution predicament. These particles tend to settle faster than the smaller PM 2.5 particles, making it easier for them to be trapped by filtration systems. Road dust makes up nearly 60 per cent of these larger pollutants and basic municipal services can remove this hazard at source. According to a study conducted by researchers at IIT Delhi, for instance, filling potholes, fixing unpaved roads and clearing garbage dumps can reduce the city’s pollution by 15 to 25 per cent. Another study by experts at IIT Kanpur concluded that measures like vertically covering construction areas, and the use of water spray and windbreakers to ensure that construction materials such as sand don’t get dispersed, can improve air quality by as much as 50 per cent.

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For much of the AAP government’s tenure, municipal services were one of the casualties in the conflict between the city’s elected government and the Centre’s representative, the lieutenant governor. The problem also is — as shown by several studies — that government officials do not always appreciate the gravity of the pollution problem. Now that Delhi has a double-engine sarkar, the two BJP-led governments will have to walk the talk on pollution. They don’t have much time to lose.