Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav conducted a comprehensive review meeting with Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and state officials to assess progress on air quality improvement measures for Delhi-NCR ahead of the winter season. The minister emphasized accelerated implementation, strict enforcement, and inter-agency coordination to achieve substantial pollution reduction.
Key road dust control measures include end-to-end paving and greening of roads with local species shrubs/grasses during monsoons, with focused attention on pothole identification and repair, construction of footpaths and pavements, roadside greening, and deep cleaning of roads. All gaps in deployment of Mechanical Road Sweeping Machines (MRSMs) must be bridged by September 2026, with all MRSMs to be geo-tagged for real-time monitoring of road-cleaning operations.
On electric mobility, the minister stressed expediting deployment of electric buses across NCR municipal corporations in Haryana, noting significant gaps in the existing fleet, while congratulating the state for rapid installation of EV charging stations across seven municipal corporation areas. For end-of-life vehicles, authorities were directed to expedite issuance of No Objection Certificates for transfer of eligible vehicles outside NCR while encouraging scientific scrapping of old and unfit vehicles and faster replacement with electric vehicles under the Parivartan Scheme.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras must be installed at all fuel stations for effective implementation of the "No PUCC, No Fuel" initiative. Authorities were asked to identify Traffic Congestion Hotspots on a mission mode and implement suitable mitigation measures.
Industrial pollution control requires accelerated installation of Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS) and Air Pollution Control Devices (APCDs) across industrial units. For construction and demolition waste management, establishment of Secondary Collection Centres must be expedited, and liquidation of Legacy Waste should be undertaken on a war footing. For municipal solid waste and biomass burning, dedicated task forces should be constituted to achieve 100% collection of municipal solid waste and biomass to eliminate littering and prevent open burning.
On stubble burning, the state government must bridge gaps in procurement of Crop Residue Management (CRM) machinery and accelerate establishment of Custom Hiring Centres. Intensive Information, Education and Communication campaigns and farmer training programmes are needed to promote effective use of CRM equipment. Local elected representatives should identify stubble-burning hotspots in coordination with Gram Panchayats, while District Collectors must survey industrial units to document their crop residue storage and consumption capacities for efficient demand-supply management, ensuring adequate availability of crop residue balers.
Minister Yadav emphasized that air pollution can only be effectively tackled through a 'Whole of Government' and 'Whole of Society' approach. Chief Minister Saini directed state officials for timely action on all measures discussed and thanked the Union Minister for his guidance. The meeting was attended by the Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Chairperson of Commission for Air Quality Management; senior officers of both the ministry and Haryana government; and officials from CPCB and Haryana State Pollution Control Board.