Delhi AQI: Environment ministry unveils new rules for NCR industries amid severe pollution levels

Environment minister Bhupender Yadav briefed the media on Wednesday on decisions take to control the air pollution in Delhi NCR that has been plaguing citizens.

Here are some of the most important decisions taken in this respect:

1. All industries in NCR to install OCEMS (Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System) by 31 December or face penalty, including closure of industries.

2. All NCR states and municipal corporations have to develop annual action plans for 2026 to strictly control air pollution.

What are OCEMS?

OCEMS is the Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System which help keep a tab on emissions by industries.

17 categories of highly polluting industries have to be connected to the RTDMS (Real Time Data Management System) by the CPCB in order to capture emission data from them. The CPCB does not charge any amount for OCEMS connectivity. The new rule has, however, called for all industries to install OCEMS by 31 December.

The OCEMS system helps the industries meet emission compliance requirements set by local or central governments.

Delhi air quality on Wednesday

Delhi's air quality on Wednesday, 3 December, continued to hover in the 'very poor' category, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

This is the second straight day when the Delhi air is in the 'very poor' AQI category. The average AQI reading in the national capital was 335 on Wednesday.

As per the CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor' and 401 to 500 'severe'.

There was brief respite for Delhiites on Sunday and Monday, but the air quality again fell back to 'very poor' starting Tuesday.

A thick layer of smog enveloped Delhi on Wednesday morning, including areas around the India Gate and Kartavya Path, where the AQI was recorded at 356.

Several other key stations, including Alipur (366), Aya Nagar (360), Burari (396), Dhaula Kuan (303), and Dwarka (377), remained in the "very poor" category.