Strict Restrictions Announced Across Various Sectors to Curb Winter Pollution in Delhi

The administration has announced restrictions across various sectors to control the increasing air pollution witnessed every year during winter in New Delhi. According to a report by The Hindu, measures will be taken in different sectors, including road dust, vehicular pollution, and construction activities, to reduce pollution. Although implementing these measures is challenging, authorities have been making efforts through various methods for years.

According to a BBC Hindi report, there has been a rapid decline in Delhi's air quality. On October 31, Delhi's average AQI was 117, which rose to 261 on November 1 and reached 324 on November 2. By 8 am on November 3, the average AQI reached 330, causing visibility to drop to less than 100 metres. In view of this situation, the Commission for Air Quality Management has implemented the second stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across the Delhi-NCR. There are a total of 60 monitoring centres to measure air quality in Delhi, of which 57 centres are providing data.

According to a report by Amar Ujala, both indirect and local factors are responsible for the sources of pollution. On November 3, the contribution of traffic to local pollution was 17.8 per cent, which is estimated to be 15.5 per cent on November 4, 16.3 per cent on November 5, and 16.7 per cent on November 6. Other local sources are likely to include residential activities at 3.8 to 4.4 per cent, industries at 2.9 to 3.3 per cent, construction at 2.2 to 2.5 per cent, waste burning at 1.3 to 1.5 per cent, and road dust at 1.1 to 1.3 per cent.

Apart from local sources, stubble burning in neighbouring states is significantly increasing pollution. On November 3, the contribution of stubble burning was 8.2 per cent, which is estimated to increase to 20.2 per cent on November 4. This contribution is predicted to be 18.3 per cent on November 5 and again 20.2 per cent on November 6. Regarding neighbouring districts, Jhajjar's contribution was 9.9 per cent on November 3, which will decrease to 5.9 per cent on November 6, while Sonipat's contribution may increase from 2.8 per cent to 5.6 per cent. Gurgaon's contribution is estimated to decrease from 4.4 to 1.9 per cent and Bhiwani's from 2.2 to 0.3 per cent, while Rohtak's contribution may increase from 2.3 to 3.7 per cent.

A political controversy has also emerged on this issue. According to an NDTV report, Delhi's Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa has accused the Punjab government of deliberately encouraging stubble burning to increase pollution in Delhi. He claimed to have brought copies of 271 FIRs from Punjab districts and that over 1,000 incidents have been recorded. Sirsa further alleged that the police themselves are setting fires so that FIRs can be registered against unknown persons. He also claimed that ₹20-25 crore has been spent on advertisements stating that stubble is not being burnt in Punjab.

On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of Punjab has rejected these allegations. AAP posted on X that the BJP is lying to defame Punjab's farmers and hide the failure of the Delhi government. They stated that the photograph shown depicts officials extinguishing stubble fires, but it has been misrepresented. Sirsa also questioned the appointment of Reena Gupta as the Chairperson of the Punjab Pollution Control Board in May 2025, claiming she is a relative of Arvind Kejriwal. Citing figures from the Union Environment Ministry, Sirsa stated that between January and October, Delhi had 'good to moderate' air for 220 days and the average AQI for October was 166.