Half of the staff in Delhi government offices will work from home, while private organisations have been urged to follow suit amid alarmingly high air pollution in the National Capital. Nearly 80 departments and different agencies in the Delhi government, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), employ approximately 1.4 lakh people. The government in Haryana, a major corporate and industrial hub, announced a temporary work-from-home directive for corporate offices and private institutions in Gurugram. Companies such as Coca-Cola and Nestlé are already offering hybrid work options to their employees.
Toxic pollutants continued to shroud Delhi in a thick blanket of smog as the air quality remained in the ‘severe’ range on Wednesday, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) measurements reported an average AQI of 419, with AQICN Air real time measurement reporting over a 569 at Delhi Institute of Tool Engineering.In the morning, the air quality remained in the "severe" category, with an average AQI of 427 at 10 am, making it the most polluted city in India, according to CPCB data. All but one of the 38 monitoring stations in the national capital were in the redzone.
The Lodhi Road station was not in the red zone, recording an AQI in the "very poor" category. Shallow fog was reported on Wednesday, with the lowest visibility of 500 metres recorded at Safdarjung, followed by 600 metres at Palam. PM2.5 levels ranged between 287.2 to 422.2 µg/m³, significantly above the national limit of 60 µg/m³. PM10 levels were also alarmingly high, peaking at 578.6 µg/m³. Meanwhile, the minimum temperature touched a season low of 11.2°C, a degree below normal. It was 12.3°C a day earlier.
Delhi Environment minister Gopal Rai, in a post on X, said 50 per cent of the staff in government offices will work from home. However, essential services such as healthcare, sanitation, public transport, fire services, law enforcement, power supply, water treatment, and emergency response operations will continue to work in full capacity to ensure public services remain unaffected. He also urged private offices, industries and businesses to implement similar measures to help mitigate the city’s air pollution crisis.
Rai suggested that private entities consider shifting office hours to begin between 10.30 am and 11.00 am to reduce vehicular congestion during peak hours. "Adjusting office timings will not only ease traffic pressure but also curb vehicle emissions," he said. Rai also held a meeting with all stakeholders such as CII, ASSOCHAM, and FICCI.
To address vehicular pollution, the government has advised companies with a large workforce to arrange shuttle bus services for employees, similar to the measures the Delhi government has implemented for its own staff. "We are continuously working to reduce pollution levels and today’s decisions are part of that effort. We hope the situation improves in the coming days," Rai said. He also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments in neighbouring states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, for "failing" to take adequate measures to control pollution.
"Delhi is surrounded by BJP-ruled states and their lack of proactive action is affecting us. I urge them to participate in these efforts to combat pollution, just as the Delhi government is doing," Rai said.
The Decision Support System for Air Quality Management in Delhi pointed out that the transport sector is the most significant contributor at 19.644 per cent. While the residential sector contribution is 3.123 per cent, industries contributed 4.634 per cent, construction 2. 956 per cent, energy sector 1. 627 per cent, waste burning 1.864 per cent, and road dust 1.502 per cent. Predicted maximum mixing depth of northwest wind is likely to be 1450 m and the ventilation index lower than 6000 m2/s with average wind speed less than 10 kmph is unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants.
Meteorological experts said fog was weakening in the region, allowing both dispersion to increase and the sunlight to penetrate through to the surface. The number of ‘poor’ days (AQI over 200) in the same period has declined from 200 in 2016 to 121 in 2024, with the worst yet to come for this year. This further underlines that meteorological conditions will continue to play an outsized role in tipping over the air quality in Delhi, from the concerning to the catastrophic. Unlike even five years ago, there is a wealth of publicly available analytical tools, private and public sources that can track, even at a daily level, the sources of pollution.
The city has been under Stage IV restrictions of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) since Monday. These restrictions include a ban on construction and demolition activities, curbs on diesel vehicles, school closures and a prohibition on the entry of diesel-powered medium and heavy goods vehicles into Delhi, except those transporting essential goods. Industrial operations contributing to air pollution have also been restricted.