Delhi Govt Constitutes Expert Committee to Combat Capital’s Hazardous Air

New Delhi: The Delhi government has formed an expert committee to provide independent ideas, suggestions and solutions to tackle the capital’s chronic air quality crisis, officials said on Monday. The committee is key to the government’s five-pronged pollution control strategy, which focuses on innovation, scientific management of dust and solid waste, action against polluting industries, reduction of vehicular emissions and long-term efforts to make Delhi greener and healthier.

The move marks a departure from previous approaches that relied largely on regulatory mandates without structured expert consultations, officials said.

To ensure faster implementation of pollution-related decisions, the government also established the Committee on Air Pollution Control Implementation (ICCAP), which aims to translate expert advice and government plans into effective on-the-ground action.

According to officials, the Special Expert Committee consists of 11 members, including former secretaries, former chairmen of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), secretaries of the environment and forest ministries, representatives from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and experts from institutions such as IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi.

The implementation committee has 16 members, including chief secretary, MCD commissioner, DDA vice-chairman, NDMC chairman, DUSIB chief executive officer, special commissioner of police (Traffic) and other senior officials.

Apart from this, the government has identified vehicular pollution as a major focus area due to large-scale road infrastructure improvements currently underway, officials added.

According to official data, more than 50,200 potholes were repaired this year compared to 36,629 last year.

Meanwhile, 2,180 km of Delhi’s 10,500 km road network has been identified for redevelopment, while 469 km of roads under MCD and PWD have already been resurfaced and strengthened. A policy decision was also taken to ensure end-to-end pavement construction on all roads.

The city’s air quality deteriorated on Monday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) falling into the ‘severe’ category at 401 at 4pm. That’s compared to 390 recorded in the ‘very poor’ range the day before.

According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) standards, an AQI of 0 to 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.