RTI Shows Delhi Yet To Use 75 Pc Clean Air Funds; Tenders Ready, Work Orders Awaited, Says Sirsa

New Delhi: Delhi has not yet used 75 per cent of the funds released under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), according to information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, with a recent CPCB inspection pointing to gaps in the city's anti-pollution work.

In response, the Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said tenders for pollution-control measures were already in place and as soon as the work orders are passed, the funds will be utilised.

"Tenders are already in place, and as soon as the work orders are passed, the funds will be exhausted and will be used on their own. We have already used it, we have already put on tenders for various projects, including litter pickers, to reduce pollution in the city," Sirsa told PTI.

The RTI filed by environmental activist Amit Gupta revealed that a May 6 inspection by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) found slow fund use, poor follow-up on earlier recommendations and incomplete work at pollution hotspots.

According to the inspection report shared by the CPCB, works such as footpath paving, greenery development and use of mechanical road sweeping machines were found satisfactory during the field visit.

However, the report said Delhi failed to meet an important condition for NCAP performance funding as 75 per cent of the released funds had not been utilised due to delays in tender-related work.

The inspection report also reviewed whether Delhi was fulfilling the nine pre-qualification conditions required under the Air Quality Challenge Fund mechanism for accessing funds in the financial year 2025-26, according to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change communication dated May 14, 2025.

The conditions include submission of the city action plan, annual action plan and city solid waste action plan under Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, utilisation of at least 75 per cent of funds released in the previous financial year, regular meetings of district or city-level monitoring and implementation committees, and 100 per cent data operation on the PRANA portal, among others.

According to the report, all conditions were fulfilled except the requirement of utilising at least 75 per cent of the funds released in the previous financial year, which remained pending due to delays in tender-related work.

Meanwhile, the Delhi environment minister said tenders for pollution-control measures were already in place, and the funds will be utilised as soon as the work orders are passed.

"Tenders are already in place, and as soon as the work orders are passed, the funds will be exhausted and will be used on their own. We have already used it, we have already put on tenders for various projects, including litter pickers, to reduce pollution in the city,” Sirsa said.

Under the section on challenges faced, the inspection officer noted that the pending fund utilisation target was the key issue.

The report also said suggestions made during earlier inspections by the CPCB monitoring team were not implemented properly by the concerned agencies.

Another issue highlighted in the report was that pollution-control measures had not yet covered all identified hotspots in the city. The CPCB said hotspot action plans were still "under progress" and needed to be expanded to all critical pollution zones.

"Delhi may have shown visible project execution at selected sites, but the CPCB says broader implementation and accountability gaps continue to affect pollution-control outcomes," Gupta said.

While the work seen on the ground was satisfactory, the report said pollution-control measures needed to be expanded to all hotspot areas. The report further said fund utilisation remained low and action taken on issues raised during earlier CPCB visits was "not that much effective".

It also noted that action taken reports (ATRs) from the previous inspection had not been properly uploaded to the monitoring portal. According to the report, key areas needing improvement include faster use of NCAP funds and wider implementation of anti-pollution measures across all hotspot locations.

Sirsa added that the Delhi government had also provided additional funds for pollution mitigation measures.

"In fact, we have also taken an extra Rs 300 crore from the Delhi government for pollution mitigation, as we needed more. This year, we shall utilise all the funds allocated for pollution control," the minister said.

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