Delhi to deploy 334 teams for winter pollution checks at 48 hotspots

Delhi will field 334 teams for round-the-clock pollution checks before winter, with intensified enforcement at 48 identified hotspots.

Two teams each will cover the city’s 39 subdivisions, led by assistant engineer- or junior engineer-level officers from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee. They will inspect biomass burning, construction and demolition dust, industrial emissions, unapproved fuels and illegal waste dumping, including at night.

At the local level, 250 teams will cover MCD wards, alongside four teams in NDMC areas and two in Delhi Cantonment Board areas. Their work includes checking decentralised construction and demolition waste storage centres, and flagging unpaved or heavily potholed roads.

The teams will also check compliance with directions on diesel generator sets and whether construction and demolition activity is registered on the Dust Portal. District magistrates will supervise action at the 48 hotspots against unauthorised polluting industries, including metal casting, plastic-waste reprocessing, spray painting and heat-treatment units.

Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said inspections would continue through the winter months, with the DPCC, district administrations and civic agencies coordinating the effort.