India imposes construction ban in Delhi-NCR to combat winter pollution
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The Indian government will halt all construction and demolition activities in the National Capital Region from November 5 to November 20 to fight rising winter air pollution.
Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav announced the measure while visiting a new command and control center in Delhi. Yadav also confirmed that the government will maintain existing rules that prevent vehicles with older emission standards from entering the city.
The move follows the introduction of a permanent winter anti-pollution framework that applies every year from November 1 to February 28. This framework includes rules such as requiring 50% of office staff to work from home and doubling parking fees at authorized sites. It also mandates that construction and demolition activities generating dust are banned from November 1 to January 31.
A stricter total halt on most construction work is scheduled between December 10 and January 20, except for emergency projects and essential public infrastructure. Authorities will use the PAVAN Integrated Command and Control Centre to monitor the situation. This platform collects data from over 2,300 industries and more than 3,200 active construction sites to help officials identify and penalize violations in real time.
The government aims to use this technology to anticipate pollution issues rather than simply reacting to them as they occur.
