Delhi witnessed severe traffic congestion at several border crossings on Sunday as the first day of the capital’s new winter anti-pollution restrictions left commuters stranded in long queues. The traffic snarls came even as the city’s air quality deteriorated to the ‘poor’ category, recording its worst reading of the season and the highest level in 198 days.
Heavy congestion was reported at several entry points, particularly along the Delhi-Gurugram and Delhi-Noida borders, as traffic police and enforcement teams conducted checks on vehicles entering the capital.
Long queues formed near MCD toll booths and other entry points across the National Capital Region (NCR), with commuters facing bumper-to-bumper traffic as officials stopped vehicles that failed to meet the prescribed emission standards.
Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 261 on Sunday, placing it in the ‘poor’ category. The reading was the highest recorded since April 17, when the AQI touched 263, and matched the level recorded on July 12.
Of the city’s 57 air quality monitoring stations, 22 recorded ‘very poor’ air quality, while 21 fell in the ‘poor’ category. The remaining 14 stations reported moderate air quality.
Jahangirpuri recorded the highest AQI at 378, approaching the ‘severe’ category, which begins at 401. PM2.5 remained the predominant pollutant across the capital.
The worsening air quality coincided with the implementation of a series of special winter pollution-control measures. These include restrictions on vehicles registered outside Delhi that meet BS-IV or older emission standards, a ban on dust-generating outdoor construction activities, doubled parking charges and a 50 per cent cap on physical attendance at government and private offices.
The restrictions will remain in force for varying periods between November 1 and February 28, with the aim of reducing vehicular emissions, dust pollution and traffic congestion during the winter months.
To ensure compliance, enforcement teams have begun conducting round-the-clock checks. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed at entry points and other key locations are also being used to identify vehicles violating the restrictions.
The Delhi Transport Department has deployed around 250 enforcement personnel at major entry points, toll plazas and identified pollution hotspots.
A total of 39 teams have been stationed across 13 major toll plazas, including DND, Rajokri on NH-48, Ghazipur, Singhu border, Tikri and Badarpur.
Officials have been instructed to take action against vehicles that fail to comply with the rules, including issuing electronic challans and impounding vehicles in accordance with regulations.
The traffic disruption also triggered criticism on social media, with several commuters expressing frustration over the long queues and questioning whether the restrictions would lead to any meaningful improvement in air quality.
"If you are travelling to Delhi in the next few days, you will have to bear the brunt of this type of traffic. Plan accordingly. Delhi-NCR's air quality will have zero improvement because of this step," a social media user posted.
Another commuter said they had been stuck at the Delhi border for three hours, missing a significant part of an event they were attending.
"Three hours stuck at the Delhi border. What is the use of us even coming? The event I was supposed to attend was already halfway through. These restrictions are meant to reduce pollution, but commuters are being left stranded in endless traffic jams. And the funny thing is, it may not even prove effective in improving air quality," the commuter wrote.
Under the new measures, all dust-generating demolition and outdoor civil construction activities have been prohibited from November 1 to January 31, except for specified essential public infrastructure projects that meet prescribed conditions.
A complete ban on construction and demolition activities, barring specified exemptions, will also be enforced between December 10 and January 20.
Parking charges at authorised parking facilities across Delhi have been doubled from November 1 to February 28. Government and private offices have also been asked to limit physical attendance to 50 per cent, with the remaining employees working from home. Essential and emergency services have been exempted.
In a separate move aimed at easing traffic congestion, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) offices will operate from 8.30 am to 5 pm, while Delhi Government offices will function from 10 am to 6.30 pm.
According to the Decision Support System (DSS) for air quality management, transport emissions accounted for 16.4 per cent of Delhi's pollution contribution on Sunday.
Industrial emissions contributed 3 per cent, residential sources 4 per cent, construction activities 2.2 per cent, energy 1.2 per cent and road dust 1.2 per cent. Other sectors accounted for 1.1 per cent.
Among neighbouring NCR districts, Jhajjar contributed 9.2 per cent to Delhi's pollution, followed by Gurugram at 4.8 per cent, Bhiwani at 2.7 per cent, Rohtak at 2.2 per cent and Bulandshahr at 0.3 per cent.
Stubble burning accounted for up to 18.5 per cent of Delhi's pollution, while other sources contributed 24.3 per cent, according to the DSS estimates.
The Air Quality Early Warning System has forecast that Delhi's air quality is likely to remain in the ‘poor’ category from November 2 to November 3. The outlook for the following six days suggests that conditions could persist between the ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories.
With winter setting in and pollution levels expected to remain elevated, the impact of the new restrictions will be closely monitored in the coming days. Their effectiveness in curbing emissions will be assessed alongside concerns over traffic management, prolonged delays at border crossings and the inconvenience caused to commuters.
(With inputs from PTI)