NEW DELHI: CM Rekha Gupta on Wednesday announced the constitution of a specialised, high-level expert committee to work continuously on controlling pollution in the national capital. The panel will include senior officials from concerned government departments, along with experts from IIT and environmental science specialists, and will be granted special powers to expedite action.
The CM directed all departments to identify and fill potholes within 72 hours, instructing road-maintenance agencies to ensure no road remains broken. Expressing strong displeasure over what she termed “irresponsibility” by certain departments, she asked the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to issue challans against negligent government bodies.
The PWD has been directed to repair potholes across its 1,400-km road network on priority and upload before-and-after photos on the designated app.
The CM said the government was treating pollution as an “emergency mission”, adding that institutions showing laxity would not be spared. The DPCC has been instructed to impose heavy penalties on agencies failing to meet pollution-control and cleanliness standards. She also ordered FIRs against departments conducting unauthorised road-cutting or failing to restore roads properly.
A high-level review meeting on pollution control was held at the Delhi Secretariat on Wednesday, where ongoing measures were assessed and departments were told to work on a “war footing”.
The meeting was attended by Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Chief Secretary Rajiv Verma, and senior officials from PWD, MCD, DDA, Environment and Forest, DSIIDC, Delhi Metro, NBCC, Power, and DUSIB. The Chief Minister stressed that while long-term strategies will continue, immediate measures must be intensified urgently.
Gupta reiterated that FIRs must be filed against departments carrying out road-cutting without permission and emphasised strict accountability of departmental heads. “No agency, government or private, will be spared,” she said, adding that pollution must be tackled jointly by the government, departments, and the public.
The Environment Minister Sirsa said that the “311 Green App” is being strengthened as the nodal platform for monitoring potholes, brown areas, and dust hotspots through the Green War Room. A comprehensive plan is being prepared to implement dust-free and green measures in identified brown areas. All construction sites must ensure fencing and comply with pollution-control norms within 48 hours.