Amid worsening air quality in the city and in line with fresh directives from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), the Delhi Government on Saturday issued an advisory directing private offices to operate with only 50 per cent of their workforce on site, while allowing the remaining employees to work remotely.
“Private offices are requested to widely communicate these protocols and ensure prompt, effective implementation in all subsidiary and branch locations,” the Environment Department said in a statement.
While the CAQM order had instructed both public and private offices under the Delhi and NCR state governments to reduce on-site staff, the Environment Department’s advisory so far has issued detailed guidelines only for private employers.
Air quality in Delhi has continued to decline since Diwali eve, with GRAP Stage I invoked on October 14, Stage II on October 19 and Stage III on November 11. At present, Stage III restrictions remain in effect.
On November 19, the Supreme Court urged CAQM to take proactive steps, in consultation with stakeholders, to prevent further deterioration of air quality in Delhi-NCR.
Taking note of the apex court’s directions and the city’s persistently high pollution levels, CAQM on Saturday revised the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), imposing stricter measures across the earlier stages.
Last week, as pollution levels peaked in the ‘severe’ category, the Delhi Government mandated staggered office timings for all departments under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD), effective from November 15 and applicable until February 2026.
The objective is to reduce vehicular emissions during peak traffic hours—a major contributor to Delhi’s PM2.5 concentration, according to government data.
Under the revised schedule, MCD offices now operate from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, while GNCTD offices function from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm. Earlier, staggered timings for state and central government offices in Delhi and the NCR districts—Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar—were implemented only under GRAP Stage III. The revised CAQM notification now mandates these measures at Stage II itself.
“Our priority is to ensure that effective pollution-control measures are implemented swiftly, while ensuring minimal disruption to the daily lives of Delhi residents,” said Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa.
The minister added that over 2,000 enforcement personnel from various Delhi Government agencies are working around the clock to ensure strict compliance with pollution-control protocols.
He said more than 1,200 inspections of construction sites and polluting industries have been carried out so far, resulting in over 200 show-cause notices for violations and 50 orders for immediate closure of non-compliant sites.