Delhi to get 13 new CAAQMS this year; 10 DPCC stations likely operational by October

Delhi will get 13 more Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) this year, with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) working on 10 of these stations, which are expected to be functional by October, a senior DPCC official said on Thursday.

The official said Delhi currently has the highest number of air quality monitoring stations among all cities in the country, as well as the highest density of CAAQMS.

“Currently, Delhi has 47 CAAQMS, with plans to set up 13 more. DPCC is working on plans for 10 of the air quality monitoring stations,” the senior official said.

Another official said, “DPCC is also developing a supersite that will collect in-depth data.”

The remaining three stations, according to the official, will be undertaken by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and are expected to be operational around July.

However, the locations of the new CAAQMS are yet to be finalised.

Earlier this year, in February, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inaugurated six new CAAQMS. She said the government is working to ensure that for every 25 sq km of area in Delhi, there is at least one air quality monitoring station to provide complete and accurate data on pollution levels as well as sources.

Of Delhi’s current total stations, 30 are operated by the DPCC, seven by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), three by IITM, six by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and one by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

Meanwhile, Delhi’s Public Accounts (PAC), in its third report of the eighth assembly, presented in March 2026, examined the Comptroller and Auditor General’s performance audit of “Prevention and Mitigation of Vehicular Air Pollution in Delhi for the year ended 31 March, 2021,” and observed that several CAAQMS did not fully comply with the siting guidelines prescribed by the CPCB.

The Committee further recommended that the Environment Department strictly comply with CPCB siting guidelines and remove obstacles or suitably address deficiencies wherever identified, ensuring that monitoring stations generate reliable air quality data.

The report also mentioned that in 2022, a joint committee of the DPCC and CPCB assessed the siting criteria for monitoring stations and found most stations compliant with CPCB guidelines.

“Although three stations (Anand Vihar, RK Puram and Jahangir Puri) had siting concerns, the CAQM decided not to shift them, considering their location in densely populated and highly polluted areas and the need to maintain continuity of long-term data,” the Environment Department’s action taken report mentioned.