The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has established a specialized interdepartmental team to intensify air pollution control efforts around the Anand Vihar Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT), a notorious hotspot in the national capital, officials announced on November 13, 2025. Comprising personnel from MCD, Delhi Police, and traffic police in collaboration with the transport department, the initiative addresses the area's chronic pollution woes exacerbated by high vehicular density from the ISBT, adjacent railway and metro stations, and the cross-border Ghaziabad bus terminal. This move aligns with Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), enforced amid Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) dipping into the "severe" category, with Anand Vihar's 24-hour average hitting 442—over 100 points above the citywide figure—on Wednesday, prompting urgent interventions to curb dust, emissions, and construction violations.

The dedicated unit operates across three rotating shifts—6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.—to ensure round-the-clock vigilance in the high-traffic zone. Each shift features seven members: five from MCD, including one from the enforcement cell, plus one each from Delhi Police and traffic police, tasked with patrolling the vicinity and enforcing compliance. While transport department officials are not formally embedded, the teams will coordinate closely with them on measures like mandatory water sprinkling to suppress road dust and verification of anti-pollution protocols at nearby sites. "Anand Vihar has been a pollution hotspot for years due to incessant traffic and multimodal transit hubs," an MCD spokesperson told Hindustan Times, underscoring the need for sustained monitoring to prevent spikes that routinely push local AQI into "very poor" or "severe" thresholds, as seen in October when the area's readings soared to 346 amid citywide "moderate" levels of 189.

Beyond immediate enforcement, the teams are empowered to identify and rectify on-ground deficiencies, such as repairing broken tiles that stir up dust or ensuring thorough mechanical sweeping of arterial roads like the Delhi-Meerut Expressway feeder routes. Daily reports detailing observations, violations rectified, and recommended actions will be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of MCD's Shahdara South Zone, who issued the directive, fostering accountability and swift escalation if needed. This structured oversight builds on broader GRAP mandates, including bans on non-essential construction, coal usage restrictions, and heightened public transport incentives, aimed at slashing PM2.5 levels that exceed Delhi's annual mean in the hotspot.

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Anand Vihar's plight exemplifies Delhi's air crisis, identified in 2018 alongside 12 other hotspots—Mundka, Wazirpur, Jahangirpuri, RK Puram, Rohini, Punjabi Bagh, Okhla, Bawana, Vivek Vihar, Narela, Ashok Vihar, and Dwarka—based on elevated PM2.5 concentrations from vehicular exhaust, industrial emissions, and transboundary pollution from neighboring Uttar Pradesh. The area's AQI volatility, often 100-200 points above the municipal average during peak traffic hours, has spurred similar localized drives, but experts call for integrated solutions like electrified bus fleets at ISBTs and green barriers along borders to yield lasting impact.

As winter approaches—a season notorious for trapping pollutants under inversion layers—the MCD's Anand Vihar task force signals a proactive pivot toward hyper-local interventions, potentially replicable across hotspots. With the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) monitoring compliance, success here could alleviate commuter exposure and set a precedent for collaborative urban governance in India's most polluted metropolis, where annual health costs from poor air top Rs 30,000 crore.

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