A new CAG report flagged lapses in Delhi’s pollution control mechanisms, including unreliable air quality monitoring systems and irregularities in PCU certificates. The report was tabled in the assembly on Tuesday. The report flags issues like inaccuracies in data generated by Air Quality Monitoring System, shortage of public transport buses, inadequate emission tests, insignificant increase in Electric Vehicle (EV) registration and improper implementation of the Odd-Even rationing scheme for cars in the national capital, among other things.
The report on ‘Vehicular Air Pollution in Delhi’, tabled by chief minister Rekha Gupta, highlighted major policy gaps and weak enforcement and poor coordination among agencies as key reasons behind the worsening pollution scenario in the national capital.
Air pollution has been an issue in Delhi for long and the city records dip in air quality levels between November and January. With an average PM 2.5 concentration of 91.8 μg/m3, Delhi continued to be the most polluted Capital city in the world, according to the 2024 World Air Quality Report released early March.
Between 2015 and 2020, nearly 4,000 diesel vehicles that exceeded pollution limits were still certified as compliant, allowing them to remain on the road despite their high emission levels. The report said that the previous AAP government failed to conduct any real-time studies to identify the exact sources of pollution. Out of the 47.51 lakh overage vehicles required to be deregistered from 2018-19 to 2020-21, the government deregistered only 2.98 lakh such vehicles, the report stated.
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