To curb the annual spike in winter air pollution, authorities in New Delhi have unveiled a package of measures that includes a six-week halt to construction, steeper parking charges, and other efforts to reduce traffic before smog turns dangerous.
For millions of residents, the move reflects both the severity of the city's air-quality crisis and the difficult tradeoffs that can come with trying to clean it up.
Here's what to know
According to The Straits Times, the city's winter plan pauses construction activity from Dec. 10 to Jan. 20, 2027. It also raises parking fees to twice their current level starting Nov. 1 and sets staggered office hours from Nov. 1 through Feb. 28 to cut congestion and vehicle exhaust.
Home to roughly 30 million people, Delhi repeatedly appears on lists of the most polluted capital cities. Its dirty air comes from several sources, including power generation, road traffic, construction work and smoke from burned crop residue.
Officials said acting ahead of the coldest months is central to the strategy. Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa also said the city wants to get these controls in place before winter conditions intensify the pollution.
"Early implementation of these stringent measures would help prevent the city's air from reaching hazardous levels during winter," Sirsa said.
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During the winter, cooler conditions keep pollutants concentrated near street level, exposing people to unhealthy air. In Delhi, PM2.5 readings frequently climb above 300 micrograms per cubic meter — about 20 times higher than the World Health Organization's recommended daily limit.
Research published in The Lancet Planetary Health in 2024 estimated that air pollution was linked to 3.8 million deaths in India over 2009-2019.
What's being done?
The new winter action plan targets several of the city's biggest seasonal pollution sources at once. Halting construction could reduce dust emissions, while staggered office hours are intended to spread out traffic and ease peak congestion. Doubling parking fees is meant to push more people toward public transit.
Interventions have shown limited results, The Straits Times reported. Those efforts included partial limits on fossil fuel-powered transport and using water trucks to spray mist into the air.
"We hope we will do better than last year and keep on improving the situation from year to year," Sirsa said. "Early implementation of these stringent measures would help prevent the city's air from reaching hazardous levels during winter."
Where can I learn more?
Delhi is far from alone in grappling with dangerous air pollution. These stories look at severe smog in Lahore and clean-air policies in cities including London, Paris and Stockholm.
• In Lahore, Pakistan, off-the-charts smog caused widespread alarm as residents turned to masks.
• Around the world, clean-air zones in cities are expanding to curb traffic pollution.
• In London, clean air policies were linked to healthier pregnancies and broader public-health gains.
• In Paris, officials banned cars in certain parts of the city to cut pollution.
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