Delhi announces construction ban, parking charges to double, orders WFH under Winter Pollution Plan: Check full list of measures

The Delhi government on Monday announced restrictions on construction and demolition activities, along with changes in office timings for government employees, ahead of winter and worsening pollution in the national capital.

The measures include doubling parking charges, a complete ban on construction and demolition activities, and work-from-home for government and private-sector employees. The revised parking rates will come into effect from November 1.

The decisions were taken after Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav chaired a high-level meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on pollution control in the capital. During the meeting, Gupta outlined her government's priorities for tackling pollution.

List of decisions:

• Existing parking charges at authorised parking sites to be doubled to discourage use of private vehicles, except for parking spaces owned and managed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (MRC) from Nov 1, 2026 to Feb 28, 2027
• Staggered Office Timings from Nov 1 to Feb 28 : Offices under MCD: 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM & Officers under GNCTD: 10:00 AM - 6:30 PM.
• Government & Private offices to reduce 50% work strength. 50% staff shall work from home and 50% from Nov 1 to Feb 28.
• Dust-generating demolition activity and outdoor civil construction activity will be banned from November 1, 2026, to January 31, 2027.
• The restrictions will be tightened further from December 10, 2026, when a complete ban on construction and demolition activities will come into effect.
• The complete ban will remain in place until January 20, 2027, according to the Delhi government.

Delhi pollution: PUC from Oct 1

The Delhi government will launch an enforcement drive against vehicles with invalid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates from October 1. Officials said vehicles found without a valid PUC certificate can be fined Rs 10,000 under existing provisions.

"We want to ensure that every person in Delhi gets clean air to breathe. This enforcement will be done to check whether the Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates are valid. Delhi government is working round the year to reduce air pollution; this is one step towards that," Rekha Gupta said.

The chief minister said the system of PUC centres in Delhi would also be made more effective and reliable.

Delhi has ranked as the most polluted among 33 states and Union territories with an annual mean PM2.5 concentration of 101 micrograms per cubic metre, 2.5 times the Indian standard and 20 times the WHO guideline, according to a satellite-based analysis. The report by the independent research organisation Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said Chandigarh recorded the second-highest annual average PM2.5 level at 70 micrograms per cubic metre during the study period from March 2024 to February 2025, followed by Haryana at 63 and Tripura at 62. Assam (60), Bihar (59), West Bengal (57), Punjab (56), Meghalaya (53) and Nagaland (52) also exceeded the national standard.