Delhi has launched a real-time pollution monitoring system that will use artificial intelligence, CCTV cameras, GPS and field teams to track violations across the capital, including more than 700 construction sites during the winter pollution season.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inaugurated the Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s Integrated Command and Control Centre at the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s IT Park in Shastri Park on Thursday, according to a report by Navbharat Times. Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa was also present at the event.
The system will monitor construction sites around the clock and identify pollution hotspots, rule violations and possible sources of emissions. The command centre will send real-time alerts to 78 sub-division-level teams and the departments responsible for responding to pollution-related violations.
The chief minister said the system would operate on the principle of “Detect, Analyse, Act, Verify”. The stated aim is to reduce the time between identifying a pollution source and notifying the field teams responsible for enforcement.
Cameras will be installed at construction sites covering more than 500 square metres. Vehicles used by field teams will be fitted with GPS, while the Vayudoot teams working on air-quality enforcement will use body cameras. Cleaning equipment will also be connected to the command centre through GPS, allowing its movement and deployment to be monitored.
The system is being introduced as Delhi-NCR approaches the period when air pollution typically becomes more difficult to disperse. The report cited weather experts who said a strong El Niño could make the winter relatively dry and reduce the frequency or strength of western disturbances. Fewer spells of rain and weaker winds could allow pollutants to remain in the atmosphere for longer, although the supplied report does not establish a final seasonal pollution forecast.
Stubble burning in neighbouring states remains another factor in the region’s winter air-quality challenge. Data attributed to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute showed 137 farm-fire cases across six states between September 15 and October 1, 2026. Punjab recorded 63 cases, Uttar Pradesh 37 and Madhya Pradesh 31. Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Delhi each recorded fewer than five cases during the period.
The figures were lower than several previous years in Punjab and Haryana for the same period, but Madhya Pradesh recorded 31 cases in 2026 compared with nine in 2025, according to the report. The data indicates that the geographical spread of farm fires will remain relevant to regional air-quality monitoring, even when the number of incidents in Delhi itself is low.
The Delhi government also launched the “Main Bhi Yamuna Prahari” app at Delhi University’s sports complex to involve residents in the Yamuna clean-up campaign. Gupta said students from 30 Delhi University colleges would participate in a cleanliness and conservation pledge on October 18. The pollution command centre’s next operational test will be whether alerts translate into documented inspections, enforcement actions and verified reductions at identified sources.
