Gurugram: Admin seeks ₹291 crore to enact pollution action plan

Gurugram's Municipal Corporation seeks ₹291 crore from the state to improve air quality, aiming to reduce AQI from 198 to 178 by year-end.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) on Thursday sought funding of ₹291 crore from the state government to implement the air pollution action plan for 2026, officials said.

Officials on Thursday told HT that the action plan formed on Thursday, aims to reduce harmful pollutants. (HT)

According to the MCG’s report, about AQI on Wednesday Gurugram’s population has reached nearly 2,250,000, while the number of industries in the city has crossed 400. With rapid urbanisation, controlling the Air Quality Index (AQI) has become a major challenge. Data from 2021 to 2024 shows an average AQI of 198, which falls under the “moderate” zone. MCG has set a target to bring down the average AQI to 178 by year-end, officials said.

Officials on Thursday told HT that the action plan formed on Thursday, aims to reduce harmful pollutants. PM2.5 levels, currently averaging 96 micrograms µg/m³, are proposed to be reduced to 86 µg/m³, while PM10 levels are to be brought down from 196 µg/m³ to 176 µg/m³. Officials said that effective control over road dust and vehicular emissions alone could lead to an immediate 10% improvement in air quality.

Pradeep Dahiya, MCG commissioner, said that of the proposed budget, ₹285 crore has been earmarked for road construction, repairs and dust reduction. The remaining ₹6 crore will be used to procure and deploy truck-mounted anti-smog guns for suppressing airborne dust particles in pollution hotspots.

At present, Gurugram has three functional automatic air quality monitoring stations located at Vikas Sadan, Gurugram University (Sector 51), and TERI Gram. According to officials, MCG has designed a dust-free roads programme where 528 kilometres of roads, spread across 294 stretches, will be targeted for intensive cleaning.

Currently, the corporation operates with 18 mechanical sweeping machines, against a requirement of 42. The action plan proposes immediate procurement of additional machines to bridge this gap. The sanitation workforce will be raised from 4,910 to 5,426 employees, officials said, adding that 50 km of roads are planned to be cleaned every month.

The action plan has been submitted to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the first week of this month.

In the last one year the corporation has already spent over ₹20 crore on pollution-control measures in the past three years, officials said. However, these efforts have failed to deliver any significant or sustained improvement in air quality. Officials said the new plan was designed after reviewing past shortcomings, focusing on scientific planning, infrastructure support, and continuous implementation.