Delhi’s air crisis is neither sudden nor unforeseeable. 

Yet the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change held just three meetings on Delhi’s air pollution for most of last year, according to documents obtained under the Right to Information Act.

Those meetings took place on September 16, October 10 and November 11, 2025 – the first barely weeks before the onset of peak pollution, despite the crisis following a predictable, year-after-year pattern. Among participants were representatives of various ministries, Delhi government, and agencies. A top management consulting firm as well as the PMO participated in one of the meetings.

However, RTI records seem to offer a picture of slow decision-making – at a time when the ministry was simultaneously spending money to shield its own leadership from the toxic air.

Too little, too late?

The September 16 meeting resulted in 19 decisions. But subsequent minutes suggest that a few of these faced delays.

Industrial emissions: Officials resolved to closely monitor the installation of online continuous emission monitoring systems (OCEMS) in 2,433 polluting industries. An SOP was to be finalised by September, with monitoring mechanisms in place by October 2.

There is little clarity on the subsequent progress made on the monitoring mechanism. By the November 11 meeting, however, just 179 installations – around 7 percent – had been completed. The deadline for the remaining units was chosen to be December 31, 2025. It’s not clear if the target has now been met.

Emission standards: A crucial IIT Kanpur study on industrial emissions was to be finalised by October 15, with revised emission norms notified by October 31. Instead, the October 10 meeting recorded that reports for several sectors were still pending. A review meeting chaired by Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav was proposed for the first week of November.

Even by November 11, emission norms remained unfinished. The minutes show that the Central Pollution Control Board was then asked to form yet another expert committee, tasked with drafting action points by November 25. It’s not clear what happened later. 

Road dust: In September, the ministry decided to convene officials from the road transport ministry, the directorate general of forests and its own department to address pothole-related dust emissions. But the October meeting minutes make no mention of road repairs at all. By November, the Delhi government was simply asked to submit a report on pothole repair work.

Construction and demolition waste: Construction dust – one of Delhi’s biggest pollution sources – saw repeated discussion but little clarity. In September, the Delhi government was instructed to prepare an integrated waste management plan, without any deadline. A separate chain of letters and meetings was proposed, culminating in a NITI Aayog-coordinated joint discussion. It’s not clear if this joint discussion ever took place.

However, in October, it was the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) that was told to hold another meeting. And in November, municipal commissioners were instructed to prepare a “comprehensive plan” and submit it to CAQM “before implementation”.

Stubble burning: All three meetings recorded plans to engage with Punjab and Haryana governments on stubble burning. The RTI responses, however, offer no clarity on whether such meetings were ever held, or whether any concrete action followed.

Why did the environment ministry wait until September to convene its first meeting on a crisis that arrives like clockwork every winter? Why were industrial monitoring systems installed in fewer than 8 percent of targeted units? Why was there a delay in the finalisation of emission standards? 

Newslaundry sent detailed questions to the union environment ministry, the Central Pollution Control Board, the Commission for Air Quality Management, and the Delhi government. This report will be updated if a response is received.

Filtered air for the few

While ordinary Delhi residents endure pollution, those tasked with safeguarding public health operate behind sealed doors and filtered air.

A separate RTI reply shows that 6 air purifiers costing Rs 2.65 lakh have been installed across the ministry’s offices. Five of these were purchased in February 2025, at the height of Delhi’s winter pollution crisis last year. Five of the six are installed in the offices of Minister of State for Environment Kirtivardhan Singh. 

Delhi’s AQI often crosses 400 in winter, a “hazardous” level linked to severe respiratory and cardiovascular harm. The World Health Organization estimates air pollution causes 7 million premature deaths globally each year. In India, estimates exceed 1.7 million deaths annually, a link the Narendra Modi government continues to dispute.

A recent assessment by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air found that most NCR cities breached India’s annual PM2.5 standards in 2025, with Delhi emerging as the most polluted major metro. The analysis is based on CPCB monitoring data available till December 30, 2025. However, the Delhi government sees improvement. Environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa recently hailed 2025 as the capital’s cleanest year in eight years.

At the time of writing this report, Delhi’s average AQI remained in the “poor” category.

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