Delhi tightens construction dust monitoring and orders demolition of illegal buildings

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) launched Dust Portal 2.0, a digital platform that obliges all construction and demolition projects of 500 sq m or more to register, map site boundaries with GIS, install PM2.5/PM10 sensors and live‑camera feeds, and submit a self‑audit every 15 days covering 12 compliance parameters. Non‑submission may trigger show‑cause notices. The system also calculates required anti‑smog guns based on built‑up area.

Separately, the Supreme Court warned Delhi‑NCR and Lucknow civic bodies that officials will be personally liable for failing to act on its earlier orders to seal or demolish unauthorised structures. The bench cited two recent fires – a blaze on June 3 in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar that killed 23 people, many foreign nationals, and a June 22 fire in Lucknow that claimed 15 lives – and ordered immediate demolition of illegal buildings in congested areas such as Lajpat Nagar and Sarojini Nagar. The court also instituted a committee of IIT professors and municipal officials to survey the sites.