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The Delhi CM described air pollution, site visitors and waterlogging as “legacy issues” inherited from the earlier regime, insisting her administration had adopted a “scientific roadmap”
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on the Rising Bharat Summit.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, on the News18 Rising Bharat Summit on Saturday, positioned air pollution on the coronary heart of her authorities’s one-year report card, promising that the Capital would breathe “higher air” within the coming months.
Responding to questions on whether or not three hundred and sixty five days had been sufficient to assert achievements, Gupta struck a measured tone. “One 12 months isn’t a protracted interval to checklist numerous achievements,” she stated, including that what gave her satisfaction was that her authorities had “labored among the many individuals, confronted issues head-on and tried to ship higher options”.
The Opposition, she acknowledged, continues to argue that air pollution ranges stay unchanged and that site visitors congestion nonetheless cripples massive components of the town. Gupta countered sharply: “If an 11-year-old authorities asks a one-year-old authorities to reply for each drawback, is that honest?”
She described air pollution, site visitors and waterlogging as “legacy issues” inherited from the earlier regime, insisting her administration had adopted a “scientific roadmap” relatively than ad-hoc responses. In response to her, the true undoing has been of “corruption and leakages,” with governance digitised and accountability tightened throughout departments.
On whether or not Delhi can ever actually change into pollution-free, Gupta was unequivocal. “Positively,” she stated. “Yearly Delhi will see higher air.”
She detailed a multi-pronged technique:
• Implementation of ‘No PUC, No Gas’ to curb vehicular emissions
• Induction of 4,000 electrical buses — the biggest such fleet within the capital
• A forthcoming EV coverage with subsidies and incentives
• Enlargement of last-mile connectivity
• Automated automobile health testing stations (two inaugurated, 5 deliberate)
• Notification of 4,200 hectares of ridge space as forest
• A goal to plant 3.5 million indigenous timber over 4 years
Air pollution, she argued, can’t be tackled as a seasonal disaster. “We’re it holistically—mud, smoke, emissions, inexperienced cowl—every little thing collectively.”
The dialog turned sceptical when requested whether or not her imaginative and prescient sounded extra like a hill station than present-day Delhi, infamous for its site visitors snarls.
Gupta insisted that enchancment will depend on public participation as a lot as coverage. “If the federal government and the individuals transfer in a single course, issues will enhance. Cities like Indore have proven it may be accomplished. No metropolis turns into clear in sooner or later.”
Pressed on timelines, she averted setting a hard and fast deadline. “This isn’t time-bound. It’s an ongoing course of.”
However on one particular marker—the Air High quality Index this October—she was prepared to commit. “Sure, Delhi will see higher air,” she stated. “We are going to work collectively in direction of it.”
On monetary help to ladies, a politically delicate promise, Gupta maintained that strengthening ladies economically stays her authorities’s intent. She stated an eligibility checklist is being ready and the scheme might be carried out by way of an internet portal to make sure transparency and keep away from leakages.
But it was clear that, on the summit, air pollution outlined the narrative of her first 12 months in workplace.
With winter traditionally bringing a blanket of smog over the Capital, Gupta’s assurance of “higher AQI this October” now stands as a measurable benchmark.
February 28, 2026, 21:21 IST
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