New Delhi: Every winter, Delhi makes headlines for all the wrong reasons. Thick smog covers the city, pollution levels skyrocket, and air quality drops to hazardous levels. It’s a crisis that returns year after year, and while the government takes action during these peak months, the bigger question remains: are we doing enough, and more importantly, are we doing it all year round?

Experts and environmentalists have long pointed out that Delhi’s approach to air pollution tends to be reactive. Most of the effort kicks in only when the situation turns severe -- usually between October and November -- rather than being part of a continuous, year-round plan.

The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which is supposed to manage pollution based on severity levels, is often seen as a short-term band-aid. It doesn't tackle the root causes or prepare the city for sudden spikes in pollution.

One of the major contributors to Delhi’s poor air is vehicular emissions. Despite moves like shifting public transport to CNG and enforcing BS6 norms, the impact has been limited. The city still has a massive number of vehicles on its roads -- around 8 per cent of the country’s total in a very small area.

Add to that the traffic congestion, and it’s no surprise that pollution levels remain high. And while electric vehicles (EVs) are being promoted as the next big solution, experts caution that they’re not a silver bullet -- especially if the electricity that powers them comes from coal.

In response to growing pressure and criticism, the Delhi government recently announced a new set of policies. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta revealed that vehicles from other states will now be required to carry a valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate when entering Delhi.

The idea is to tighten emissions checks and prevent highly polluting vehicles from adding to the city’s burden. This comes after a CAG report highlighted serious lapses in Delhi’s existing pollution control systems, pointing out weak enforcement and poor coordination between agencies.

Alongside this, the government is planning a major expansion of EV infrastructure. By 2026, Delhi aims to have 48,000 EV charging points across the city -- 18,000 publicly managed and 30,000 semi-private.

While this is a step in the right direction, experts stress that without strengthening public transport, these measures won’t go far. If people don’t have clean, affordable alternatives to driving, EVs alone won’t reduce the number of vehicles on the road or the traffic that slows the city to a crawl.

The government is also planning to set up six new air quality monitoring stations and an eco-park for processing electronic waste -- another often overlooked source of pollution. These may seem like smaller steps, but they’re important pieces of a bigger puzzle. However, even the best city-level efforts can only go so far.

Delhi’s air doesn’t exist in isolation. Pollution flows in from surrounding states, carried by wind and weather. Experts say what’s needed now is a joint approach -- an “air shed” model, where Delhi and its neighboring states work together, much like they would in managing a shared water system.

Only by addressing the issue regionally can real, lasting progress be made. Therefore, Delhi’s latest announcements show that there is political will to act. But unless these plans are part of a bigger, long-term, and better-coordinated effort, it’s likely that come next winter, the smog will return -- and with it, the same old questions.

(Vanshika Singh is a research assistant at the Indian Council of Social Science Research).

Delhi’s new anti-pollution moves: Will they be enough?