Govt to tackle air pollution with monthly meetings
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has directed the Delhi Government to hold monthly meetings to address congestion at identified hotspots, intensify vacuum sweeping of roads, and ensure proper waste collection and night patrolling to check biomass and MSW burning.
The CAQM observed that Delhi needs to effectively tackle traffic congestion at various hotspots, road dust, disposal of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and its burning. The CAQM’s observation came after a review meeting of the commission’s sub-committee on safeguarding and enforcement held on December 12.
The CAQM directed the Delhi government to convene focused monthly meetings on the de-congestion of identified hotspots. The Delhi Government has identified 62 traffic congestion hot spots or choke points across the Capital.
These choke points stretch across nearly every district: from the chronically clogged Bhavbhuti Marg outside New Delhi Railway Station to Madhuban Chowk in northwest Delhi, Mayur Vihar Phase III in the east, South Extension in the south, Punjabi Bagh in the west, and the dense transit corridors around Kashmere Gate and Anand Vihar. More than half of the 62 sites see severe jams during morning and evening rush hours, it showed. Prominent among those are Safdarjung Hospital, Ajmeri Gate, the road outside Max Hospital in Saket and the Punjabi Bagh roundabout on Ring Road.
Another 11 locations, such as Chelmsford Road near New Delhi Railway Station and Purana Quila Road adjacent to Patiala House Court, experience intense evening load. Six areas, such as South Extension Part I, Majnu Ka Tila and Mayur Vihar Phase-3, were found to be choked on weekends or “market days”. At several locations, the triggers are hyperlocal.
At Boulevard Road near Tis Hazari, advocates’ cars routinely occupy both carriageways and obstruct two DTC bus stands, causing hours-long snarls on working days. At Majnu Ka Tila, ongoing work on a foot overbridge, narrow lanes, unregulated parking and weekend rush to the Tibetan market create gridlock. In Burari, dug-up Delhi Jal Board stretches, broken dividers and heavy school-hour traffic slow movement daily.
Only two locations — Guru Ravidas Marg and Najafgarh Road — were flagged as remaining heavily choked almost throughout the day.
Among the toughest stretches is the Kalindi Kunj merge point, where six lanes from Noida funnel into three lanes inside Delhi, overwhelming capacity at peak hours. At Sarai Kale Khan, where Barapullah, Ring Road and Mathura Road converge at a junction already burdened by ISBT, RRTS and railway station traffic, suggested fixes include redesigned merge lanes, grade separators and separate bays for buses and autos.
The CAQM also directed to intensify vacuum sweeping of roads, which contributes to PM2.5 and PM10 in the region; Proper collection and disposal of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) should be done by the MCD and NDMC and Intensify night patrolling shall be carried out for MSW and Biomass burning. It also asked for stricter enforcement through Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at fuel stations.
Earlier, the CAQM has set up a 15-member expert committee to tackle vehicular pollution in Delhi-NCR, saying that such emissions remain a major contributor to air pollution in the region. It will assess segment-wise contributions of vehicular emissions and related exposure risks. The committee will also examine technological readiness, infrastructure needs, cost implications and incentive plans for an accelerated electric vehicle transition and recommend additional measures as needed.
5-point action plan
- Stop entry of BS-IV truck traffic into Delhi (except for trucks carrying essential commodities/providing essential services). All LNG/CNG/Electric/BS-VI Diesel trucks shall, however, be permitted to enter Delhi.
- Enforce a strict ban on plying of Delhi-registered diesel-operated BS-IV and below Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) in Delhi, except those carrying essential commodities/providing essential services.
- Ban C&D activities, as in the GRAP Stage-III, also for linear public projects such as highways, roads, flyovers, overbridges, power transmission, pipelines, tele-communication, etc.
- State Governments in the NCR and the GNCTD to mandatorily conduct classes in schools for children even for higher classes i.e. from class VI to IX and XI in a “Hybrid” mode i.e., both in physical and online mode (wherever online mode is feasible) in the territorial jurisdiction of the NCT of Delhi and in the districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar.
- State Governments may consider additional emergency measures like closure of colleges/educational institutions and closure of non-emergency commercial activities, permitting running of vehicles on an odd-even basis of registration numbers, etc.
