Delhi Cabinet approves real-time pollution source tracking, EV road sweepers

The Delhi government on Tuesday approved two measures to strengthen year-round pollution control – reviving a plan to develop a real-time system to identify and analyse pollution sources in collaboration with IIT-Delhi, and deploying 30 electric mechanical road-sweeping machines on smaller roads, officials said

The Delhi government on Tuesday approved two measures to strengthen year-round pollution control – reviving a plan to develop a real-time system to identify and analyse pollution sources in collaboration with IIT-Delhi, and deploying 30 electric mechanical road-sweeping machines on smaller roads, officials said.

The move comes against the backdrop of how Delhi has long struggled to accurately pinpoint what is polluting its air and where it’s coming from. (Hindustan Times)

The decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Rekha Gupta, who said the government was “adopting a scientific approach to tackle pollution”, rather than treating it as a problem limited to the winter months.

The five-year source-apportionment project, estimated to cost ₹19.22 crore, will develop a continuous, real-time system to assess the sources and contribution of PM2.5 and PM10 over a 24-hour period, officials said. It will analyse sources including vehicular emissions, road dust and biomass burning, helping authorities identify pollution hotspots and strengthen targeted interventions.

The move comes against the backdrop of how Delhi has long struggled to accurately pinpoint what is polluting its air and where it’s coming from. Source-apportionment studies by IIT Kanpur in 2016 and by the The Energy and Resources Institute in 2018 are outdated.

Under the road-sweeping initiative, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will receive a grant to procure and operate 30 electric vehicle-based mechanical road-sweeping machines (MRSMs). The machines will be deployed on around 609km of roads with a right of way of less than 10 metres.

According to the government, 854 roads across 250 wards have been identified for the initiative. The project is estimated to cost ₹393.73 crore over 10 years.

Road dust is considered a significant contributor to particulate pollution in Delhi, and the government said extending mechanised cleaning to smaller roads would strengthen efforts to control dust at source. MCD will be responsible for deploying and operating the machines.

The use of EVs is also aimed at ensuring that mechanised road cleaning does not add to emissions, officials said.

Gupta said the two measures would complement each other, with mechanised cleaning strengthening action on the ground and real-time source apportionment providing scientific inputs for policymaking and enforcement.

The decisions come as the Delhi government steps up implementation of its Winter Action Plan 2026-27. The government said pollution-control measures would continue throughout the year and cover road dust, vehicular emissions, construction and demolition dust, industrial pollution, waste and biomass burning, besides increasing green cover and strengthening enforcement.

Gupta said departments, DPCC, MCD and scientific institutions would work together to address different pollution sources, with public participation forming an important part of the strategy.