Treading with caution: Bikers navigating a road amid poor visibility in Delhi on Sunday, December 14, 2025, morning.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) on Sunday (December 14, 2025) pulled up the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) over “evident gaps” and “recurring negligence” in the upkeep of roads in the city.
It said flying squads inspected 136 road stretches maintained by the DDA. Out of them, 15 showed high levels of visible dust, 38 recorded moderate dust levels, 61 had low dust intensity, and 22 were found to have no visible dust.
The squads also found accumulation of municipal solid waste (MSW) on 55 stretches, construction and demolition waste on 53 stretches, and open burning of MSW or biomass on six stretches.
Dust pollution is one of the major sources of air pollution in Delhi.
The CAQM stated that these “observations clearly indicate evident gaps and recurring negligence in the upkeep of the stretches concerned”.
It added that the DDA needs to enhance its “operational efficiency” and take prompt corrective measures through “consistent and timely dust mitigation interventions”.
“The agency also needs to deliver improved compliance across all road stretches for MSW/biomass burning,” it stated.
AQI hits 461
Meanwhile, air quality in the national capital on Sunday (December 14) deteriorated with a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 461 at 4 p.m., the highest value recorded this season, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
It worsened further from the 431 (‘severe’) recorded a day earlier and is likely to improve slightly to the ‘very poor’ category on Monday, the CPCB’s daily official bulletin stated.
AQI in the range of 51-100 is termed ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 is deemed ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’, 401-450 ‘severe’, and 451-500 ‘severe plus’, according to the CAQM.
Air quality in several other cities of north India, including Bahadurgarh in Haryana, and Ghaziabad and Noida in Uttar Pradesh, were in the ‘severe plus’ category. Baghpat and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh recorded air quality in the ‘severe’ category.
“Air quality is likely to be in the ‘very poor’ category from Monday to Wednesday and the subsequent six days,” the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi stated.
Published – December 15, 2025 02:06 am IST