Pedalling towards a cleaner capital
The real crisis lies in major cities, where overcrowded roads, rising pollution, declining patience and poor traffic discipline have become commonplace.
The real crisis lies in major cities, where overcrowded roads, rising pollution, declining patience and poor traffic discipline have become commonplace.
Delhi’s draft EV Policy 2026 opens for consultation, proposing incentives, scrappage benefits and strict timelines to push electric mobility across two-wheelers, commercial fleets and private vehicles.
Pakistan emerged as the world’s most polluted country in 2025, recording PM2.5 levels up to 13 times higher than the safe limits prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The framework aims to improve road cross-sections, right-of-way (RoW) utilisation, greening measures and road maintenance protocols across the NCR.
The CAQM, in view of the forecasts for meteorological conditions and air quality index made available by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), respectively, has taken a call on the preventive, restrictive measures under stage II of GRAP, invoked in the entire NCR on October 19 last year.
According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)’s Sameer app, at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, 34 out of Delhi’s 39 active monitoring stations recorded ‘severe’ AQI levels; several at the higher end of the range. The AQI touched 462 in Bawana, 460 in Wazirpur, and 452 in both Mundka and Punjabi Bagh.
The PIL also sought the top court's direction to frame a time-bound National Action Plan and its immediate implementation.
The operation includes removal of debris from road surfaces, filling potholes on priority, repairing and upgrading road signage, and carrying out other essential maintenance tasks, aimed at curbing the dust.
Meanwhile, Haryana witnessed a much higher drop, from 857 cases in 2024 the paddy burning this year stood at 145.
As the city remained engulfed in a thick blanket of smog, with visibility dropping sharply, the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) blamed the BJP government for the worsening situation.
