Centre, Delhi take slew of steps to cut pollution

The Centre and the Delhi government shored up their action against the persistent pollution crisis in the region on Wednesday, announcing a state-level monitoring panel and ordering over 2,000 industrial units to install real-time emission trackers and control systems by the end of the year.

- Jayashree Nandi and Snehil Sinha

At the central level, the Union environment ministry ordered 2,254 units — labelled as those with “high air pollution potential”, or “red” category industrial units — to bake in calibrated Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS) and Air Pollution Control Devices (APCD) by the end of the year. Units that don't comply may be shut, said officials aware of the matter.

At the state government level, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta announced the formation of a high-powered expert committee that will continuously monitor, review and recommend measures to manage pollution in the Capital.