Six more stations and 30 crore for control centre to monitor air quality

New Delhi: The city will get six continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS), an integrated command and control centre for real-time monitoring of various environmental parameters and a separate fund for pollution control and emergency measures, the Delhi budget has outlined.
Chief minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday allocated Rs 506 crore for the environment and forest department for 2025-26. She said a separate provision of Rs 300 crore has been allocated under "pollution control and emergency measures."
There was no separate mention of the budget allocated for the environment and forest department in 2024-25, but Rs 263 crore and Rs 266 crore were allocated in 2023-24 and 2022-23, respectively.
The six new CAAQM facilities will increase the total number of stations to 46. The move aims to make the city's air quality network denser.
Gupta also announced the creation of a Rs 30-crore integrated command and control centre (ICCC) in Delhi for real-time monitoring of air and water quality, noise levels, waste management, traffic jams, waterlogging and disaster management.
"Imposing the Graded Response Action Plan is not a solution to air pollution," Gupta said, adding that since Delhi has no command or redress system, the ICCC will help in improving environmental governance and public health.
A budget of Rs 20 crore has been allocated under the Delhi Parks and Garden Society scheme to provide more financial assistance to RWAs, NGOs, and societies to make Delhi's parks and gardens green. "While RWAs and others have adopted parks under the scheme, they are yet to receive funds, and parks are in poor condition. We will clear the pending dues and provide additional financial support," Gupta said.
Delhi govt has also set a target of planting 70 lakh saplings. This campaign will be run on a large scale throughout the city, and at the same time, proper maintenance of the existing plants will also be done.
The CM said keeping the air quality and water resources clean and protected is one of the top priorities of her govt. Waste management is one of the major problems of Delhi, she said.