NEW DELHI: The entire national capital region (NCR) will see a complete ban on construction and demolition activities from Nov 5 to 20 as the Centre steps up efforts to tackle rising winter pollution.Announcing the restriction on Friday, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav also ruled out any rollback of Delhi govt’s order barring non-Delhi BS-IV and below vehicles from entering the city from Nov 1 to Jan 31.Yadav was visiting CAQM’s newly developed PAVAN Integrated Command and Control Centre in Delhi. The minister said non-conforming industries, polluting sources and traffic congestion hotspots would also face swift action through the new monitoring platform. The announcement comes as Delhi prepares to implement its permanent winter anti-pollution framework from Nov 1. The framework consolidates several seasonal restrictions into a single set of rules applicable every year from Nov 1 to Feb 28.
‘Shift from reacting to pollution to anticipating it’
These include restrictions on the entry of non-Delhi vehicles below BS-VI standards, mandatory valid pollution-under-control certificates for fuel purchases, 50% work-from-home for office staff and curbs on dust-generating construction activities. Parking charges at authorised sites will also double during the winter period.As per the framework, irrespective of GRAP, a ban on construction and demolition activities that generate dust comes into force from Nov 1 to Jan 31, with a complete halt on most construction work between Dec 10 and Jan 20, barring essential public infrastructure and emergency projects. Vehicles carrying construction material will also be prohibited from entering the city during this peak period.Last winter, construction activities were banned a number of times under relevant stages of GRAP, with the last one imposed between Jan 16 and 22, 2026. Under the current revised GRAP order, C&D activities are to be banned under GRAP Stage III — AQI between 401 and 450, with exceptions for linear public projects. However, under GRAP Stage-IV — AQI beyond 450, the ban extends to linear public projects such as highways, roads, flyovers, overbridges, power transmission, pipelines, telecommunication, etc.As per the GRAP order, any violation attracts environmental compensation as per NGT guidelines. The new NCR-wide construction shutdown will add another layer to these measures, with the Centre seeking tighter coordination across states to tackle pollution sources.PAVAN-I3C operates on the principle of ‘Detect, Analyse, Act’, bringing together information on air quality, emissions, weather, satellite imagery, traffic, public complaints and compliance. The platform draws data from 111 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations across Delhi-NCR, over 2,300 industries and more than 3,200 active construction sites. Yadav said the platform marked a shift from reacting to pollution to anticipating it, enabling agencies to identify violations and act on them in real time.
