As Delhi AQI improves to 88, Sirsa credits relentless ground-level action

New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) A day after burning of Ravana effigies on Dussehra, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Friday that the city recorded a significant improvement in air quality with the Air Quality Index (AQI) dropping to 88 (Satisfactory category).

Two of the city’s key pollution hotspots — Narela (66) and Mundka (76) — registered ‘Satisfactory’ AQI levels, reflecting the success of sustained and targeted interventions, he said.

Highlighting that October is a month that is usually associated with rising pollution levels, Sirsa credited the turnaround to relentless ground-level action.

“A satisfactory day in October is the clearest proof that interventions like mechanised sweeping, misting, dust control at construction and demolition sites, and legacy waste bio-mining are working. This is the result of consistent 24x7 environmental action — not chance,” he said in a statement.

Sirsa reiterated that weather is no longer the sole driver of Delhi’s air quality improvement. “The clean air we are seeing today is a consequence of policy, enforcement, and teamwork. Delhi is proving that with resolve, systems, and continuous action, cleaner air is achievable and sustainable,” he said.

Delhi has already recorded 190 clean air days between January 1 and October 3, 2025 — the highest for this period in nearly a decade.

This performance puts 2025 on track to possibly surpass all previous years, except 2020 when the city saw 227 such days due to the pandemic lockdowns.

“Even that record is now within close reach, prepping for a historic turnaround in Delhi’s fight for cleaner air,” he said.

Highlighting the governance model, the Minister added: “Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the effective guidance of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Delhi is moving from short-term fixes to long-term solutions. The improvement in October AQI demonstrates the strength of this proactive approach.”

“This clean-air turnaround is not accidental — it is the outcome of multiple interventions being executed in a coordinated way. From expanding Delhi’s green cover through large-scale plantation drives, to mechanised road sweeping, strict dust control at C&D sites, and mandatory anti-smog guns on big commercial projects, bio mining of legacy waste, every measure is being enforced with discipline,” said the Minister.

“We have deployed misting systems across hotspots, centralised monitoring for real-time action, and ensured timely garbage collection alongside new road construction and repairs. Each of these interventions feeds into the larger cycle of improvement, creating visible and measurable impact on Delhi’s air quality,” said Sirsa.

Presenting a report, the Minister said that the civic action in the past 24 hours included: Removal of 10,869 MT garbage, sweeping of 6,265 km roads, lifting of 2,171 MT C&D waste and bio-mining of 8,894 MT legacy waste - Bhalaswa: 3,839 MT; Okhla: 2,547 MT and Ghazipur: 2,508 MT.

--IANS

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