Delhi's average air quality deteriorated to 370 on Monday morning, November 9, recording its most polluted Diwali in five years, with several neighbourhoods recording pollution levels in the severe category, putting Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's clean-air promises under scrutiny.
The deterioration comes despite the BJP's 2025 election pledge to halve Delhi's average Air Quality Index (AQI) by 2030 and the government's subsequent pollution-control measures.
The BJP's Viksit Delhi Sankalp Patra 2025 promised to launch a Delhi Clean Air Mission to reduce average AQI by 50% by 2030, cut PM2.5 and PM10 levels by half and reduce the number of days with poor air quality. It also pledged road-sweeping machines in every assembly constituency and water-sprinkling machines in every municipal ward, with additional machinery in highly polluted areas such as Anand Vihar, RK Puram and Mundka.
The worsening air quality comes as Delhi enters another winter pollution season, followed by the grand celebrations od Diwali.
What Rekha Gupta's government promised
The BJP's pollution pledges extended beyond AQI targets. The party promised a coordinated approach involving neighbouring states, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, NDMC and the Centre, saying it would not blame others for Delhi's pollution problems.
"Our government will not make any excuses or blame others for the problems related to pollution, traffic, electricity, water, transport, etc of Delhi and will find effective solutions by collaborating with the neighbouring states, MCD, NDMC and the central government," the BJP manifesto promised in the chapter 'Clean and Green Delhi'," the BJP had said.
After coming to power, Gupta announced the Air Pollution Mitigation Plan 2025, covering dust, vehicular emissions, construction waste, solid waste, industrial pollution, greenery and monitoring.
The plan included more than 5,000 electric buses, 2,299 electric autos, over 1,000 water sprinklers, 140 anti-smog guns and 200 mechanical sweepers. It also proposed GPS and CCTV tracking of dust-control equipment, stricter construction-site monitoring, additional air-quality stations and a cloud-seeding trial with IIT Kanpur.
In June 2025, Gupta said, "Providing clean air to Delhi's citizens is not optional. It is our duty," while launching the plan.
Winter action plan brings fresh restrictions
The Delhi government announced a 10-point winter action plan for November 1, 2026, to February 28, 2027. It includes restrictions on polluting vehicles, a 'No PUC, No Fuel' policy, construction curbs, higher parking charges and work-from-home arrangements.
Vehicles without valid Pollution Under Control Certificates will not be allowed to refuel at petrol pumps equipped with automatic number plate recognition systems. The plan also provides for restrictions on older vehicles, construction activity, road dust and open waste burning.
At a September 28 review meeting with Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Gupta stressed coordinated enforcement, hotspot-specific targets and continuous monitoring.
The government reported that 1,193 km of road redevelopment had been completed and that 42 pollution and traffic hotspots had been addressed. It also said Delhi had 6,840 buses, including 5,088 electric buses, and had greened 433 of 434 acres identified as brown areas.
Punjab records 4,459 stubble-burning incidents
The pollution challenge extends beyond Delhi's boundaries, with the situation deteriorating again as the winter pollution season intensifies. Punjab recorded 4,459 stubble-burning incidents up to November 8, according to a Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) report.
Physical inspections were conducted at 2,998 locations, with evidence of burning confirmed at 1,310 sites. Environmental compensation was imposed in 1,228 cases, with Rs 62.55 lakh levied and Rs 32.60 lakh recovered.
The report also recorded 884 FIRs under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and red entries in land records of 1,017 farms. Prosecution proceedings were initiated against 18 nodal officers under Section 14 of the CAQM Act.
Tarn Taran reported the highest number of incidents at 654, followed by Ferozepur with 592, Sangrur with 488, Bathinda with 406 and Patiala with 288.
Stubble burning remains one of several contributors to Delhi's pollution. A November 5 analysis by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology estimated that regional stubble burning contributed 16.28% of Delhi's PM2.5 concentration that day, while local transport accounted for 18.17%.
With Delhi's air quality deteriorating again, the capital is facing the same old challenge.
