New Delhi, Apr 20 (PTI) The Delhi Legislative Assembly Secretariat has forwarded the third report of its Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on vehicular air pollution to concerned authorities, seeking an action taken report (ATR) by January 31, 2027, officials said on Monday.
The report is based on the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s performance audit on “Prevention and Mitigation of Vehicular Air Pollution in Delhi” for the year ended March 31, 2021.
According to an official statement, the ATR must indicate the status of implementation of the committee’s recommendations as of December 31, 2026, and be submitted to the assembly secretariat within the stipulated deadline.
Vijender Gupta, Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, said addressing vehicular air pollution requires coordinated and time-bound action, stressing that audit findings must translate into tangible outcomes on the ground.
Communications in this regard have been sent to the Transport Minister of the Government of NCT of Delhi and the Secretary-cum-Commissioner of the Transport Department, calling for a comprehensive response to the committee’s findings, officials said, adding that the report highlights systemic gaps in regulatory frameworks, enforcement mechanisms and institutional coordination that continue to affect air quality management in the national capital.
Gupta said the findings point to structural deficiencies, including gaps in planning frameworks, limitations in monitoring systems and inconsistencies in enforcement. He also flagged inadequate air quality monitoring infrastructure, incomplete tracking of pollutants and the lack of reliable emission data as constraints to evidence-based policymaking.
The speaker further noted that shortcomings in public transport, such as a shortage of buses, limited route coverage and inadequate last-mile connectivity, have contributed to increased reliance on private vehicles, thereby adding to pollution levels.
On enforcement, Gupta pointed to uneven implementation of vehicular emission norms, inadequate coverage of Pollution Checking Centres, irregularities in issuing Pollution Under Control certificates and slow adoption of modern monitoring technologies. He also flagged the continued presence of end-of-life vehicles and limited progress in their scrapping and deregistration.
Referring to policy initiatives such as the promotion of electric vehicles and the development of charging infrastructure, he said their implementation has remained fragmented due to insufficient coordination among agencies.
Gupta stressed the need for a comprehensive and sustained approach, including stronger monitoring systems, robust enforcement, expansion of public transport and promotion of cleaner mobility solutions.
He underlined that all concerned departments must act with clarity and urgency to implement the committee’s recommendations in a time-bound manner and expressed hope that the government would take decisive steps to address the deficiencies identified in the audit. PTI AHD AHD SKY SKY
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