New Delhi: The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Sunday shared its action plan of 2026 for Delhi, which aims for a 15% reduction in annual average PM2.5 levels, a 20% reduction in PM10, and a 15% improvement in the annual average Air Quality Index (AQI) by the end of the year, compared to the average of the previous five years.The city saw an average AQI of 209 in 2024 and 191 in 2025, and CCAQM aims for 177 for 2026. For PM2.5, it aims at an annual average of 96 micrograms per cubic metre in 2026. It was 99 in 2025 and 110 in 2024. For PM10, the aim is to bring it down to 177 micrograms per cubic metre in 2026, against 209 in 2025 and 225 in 2024.The plan recognised that Delhi faces a multi-source problem and proposed coordinated action on transport, construction, waste management, industry and road dust control. The plan said it has so far utilised approx 32% of the annual budget of Rs 81.3 crore.It also pointed out that while the city has a total of 30,672 industries in conforming areas, a survey is on to assess industrial units in non-conforming areas. On air quality monitoring, CAQM plans to increase the number of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) from 40 to 46.Vehicular emissions remain a focus area. The action plan emphasises on expanding public transport, improving last-mile connectivity and accelerating the transition to cleaner mobility. Large-scale induction of electric buses, expansion of the Metro and Namo Bharat corridors, and a major scale-up of electric vehicle charging and battery-swapping infrastructure are the need of the hour. To reach the targets, CAQM would need need DMRC to expand to 549 km from the current 352 km. For last-mile connectivity from Metro stations, the CAQM expects that a gap of 380 buses, 850 e-rickshaws, 120 e-buses, and 360 e-autos would be filled. For the transport sector, CAQM flagged a gap of 5,755 buses (CNG or electric) to meet the requirement of 11,000 buses.Management of municipal solid waste and the accelerated remediation of legacy dumpsites at Okhla, Bhalswa, and Ghazipur formed another pillar of the plan. CAQM has set a goal to reduce the garbage load at Okhla from the current 23 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) to 7.2 LMT. The reduction of net waste at Bhalswa is aimed to be 15.6 LMT, down from from 36.5 LMT, and for Ghazipur from 77.2 LMT to 8.25 LMT.Dust control and construction feature prominently. Wider deployment of mechanical road-sweeping machines, greening of central verges and pavements, stricter enforcement at construction sites are some of the measures.
