The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has launched PAVAN-I3C, a new integrated command and control centre in New Delhi designed to track air pollution, coordinate enforcement and support faster action across the Delhi-National Capital Region.
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav reviewed the platform’s technological framework and operational readiness on Friday. CAQM officials demonstrated its live functioning during the review.
PAVAN, or the Platform for Air Quality Vigilance and Analytics for NCR, brings more than 30 application programming interfaces and data streams onto one system, according to a note issued by CAQM. These include air quality, emissions, weather, satellite, camera, mobility, complaints and compliance data from multiple agencies.
The platform has integrated information from 111 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations, 2,300 industries and 3,200 active construction sites. It also incorporates traffic hotspot data, allowing the centre to track several sources and locations associated with pollution across the region.
The command centre can monitor 12 areas or modules, including ambient air quality, crop residue burning, construction and demolition, weather and meteorology, landfill management, vehicular pollution, citizen grievances, mechanical road-sweeping machines, industrial emissions, brick kilns and action plans prepared by Delhi-NCR states and Punjab. Some of these systems can be monitored in real time.
CAQM said the platform is intended to improve coordination among agencies responsible for identifying pollution sources and taking enforcement action. Its operating principle is “detect, analyse, act”, officials said during the briefing.
Yadav said the platform would bring data streams together so that incidents such as a farm fire, a polluting industrial stack or an uncovered construction site could be identified, flagged and acted upon in real time. He described air quality as a significant challenge and said the government was continuing to work on solutions.
PAVAN-I3C is the second integrated command and control centre based in New Delhi for air pollution monitoring. The first was operationalised by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, according to the information released about the platform.
The centre’s design reflects the administrative complexity of air pollution in the NCR, where pollution sources and enforcement responsibilities span multiple agencies, states and sectors. By combining monitoring, complaints, mobility and compliance information, the system is intended to provide a common operating view for coordination and enforcement.
CAQM’s announcement did not specify the number of enforcement actions already initiated through PAVAN-I3C or provide a separate assessment of the platform’s performance after the launch. Its immediate operational role will be to consolidate incoming data and support authorities in identifying pollution events across the region.
