Delhi region orders a 16-day halt to outdoor construction and demolition to curb smog

The Oct. 30 directions were issued under Section 12 of the 2021 CAQM Act, the Millennium Post reported. The halt applies to outdoor civil works across the NCR and reaches linear public projects: roads and highways, flyovers and overbridges, pipelines, power transmission lines and telecom lines. The Delhi government and the NCR states are responsible for enforcing it.

Railway, Metro, airport, inter-state bus terminal, hospital, water supply and sanitation projects may keep working, as may national security, defence and other projects of national importance, said Tarun Kumar Pithode, the commission's member secretary, according to BW Businessworld. India.com reported that Delhi Metro work on Phases IV and V-A, among them the Tughlakabad-Aerocity Golden Line, is covered by the exemptions. Offices in Delhi and five districts (Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Faridabad and Sonipat) must also cap on-site attendance at 50%.

The commission said daily air quality data for November from 2018 to 2025 showed pollution repeatedly reaching the Severe and Severe+ categories in early and mid-November. BW Businessworld reported that this is the first standalone preventive order CAQM has put out for those weeks. Unlike the stages of the region's Graded Response Action Plan, which follow actual or forecast readings, this order runs on fixed dates whatever the daily index shows. Diwali falls on Nov. 8 this year.

Builders in Delhi face a longer squeeze. The city's own winter plan bars dusty demolition and outdoor construction from Nov. 1 to Jan. 31 except for some essential infrastructure, with a wider ban from Dec. 10 to Jan. 20, India.com reported.