Ghaziabad district magistrate Ravinder Kumar Mandar held a meeting on Tuesday evening to address rising pollution. He directed agencies to use water sprinkling and anti-smog guns at construction sites. “We will penalise them if they do not act,” said Ankit Kumar, as officials target dust and old diesel vehicles.

The officials said that Ghaziabad district magistrate (DM) Ravinder Kumar Mandar on Tuesday evening held a meeting of different departments and rolled out directions to the Ghaziabad development authority, municipal corporation, UPPCB, all municipal councils, transport department, district supplies department, electricity department, the police, agricultural department, and other development agencies.

“To control dust emissions from construction sites, the DM directed all construction agencies to ensure adequate water sprinkling at and around construction sites and to install anti-smog guns where necessary. The RWAs were directed that electric heaters be provided to security personnel in all group housing societies to prevent air pollution caused by the burning of bonfires during the upcoming winter season,” the DM said in an official statement.

The agencies were also directed to carry out mechanised sweeping and water sprinkling on roads during the night. Additionally, hotel and restaurant operators were directed to use PNG or LPG instead of coal or wood-fired tandoors, officials added.

“To curb vehicular pollution, action was directed against diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years, except EVs, CNG vehicles, and BS-6 compliant diesel vehicles. The UPPCB has already identified nine hotspots in Ghaziabad and has asked the agencies to take up dust mitigation measures. We will penalise them if they do not act,” Ankit Kumar, regional officer of UPPCB, Ghaziabad, told HT.

Earlier in September, HT reported that the UPPCB identified Sahibabad, Raj Nagar Extension, Loni, Bhopra-Delhi Border, Siddharth Vihar, Kanawani Pushta Road, Vijay Nagar and South Side GT Road, Lal Kuan, Indirapuram, and Vasundhara/Vaishali as hotspots for 2026-27.

“The corporation is taking up regular activities of water sprinkling, mechanized road sweeping. The agency has also floated an expression-of-interest to get services of deploying drones for water sprinkling during winter season. However, we have not come across any agency so far that provides such services,” KP Anand, corporation’s general-manager (water works), told HT.

According to UPPCB data, Ghaziabad’s annual average air quality index (AQI) saw a 42-point decline over five years — from 227 in 2021 to 185 in 2025. The average annual AQI stood at 206 in 2022, 181 in 2023, and 177 in 2024.

“The city suffers from high pollution levels, especially in winters. The enforcement activities lack sting. Instances of road dust, vehicular and industrial pollution, and construction activities severely affect clean air. Air pollution remains as a major concern for city residents,” said Sushil Raghav, a city-based environmentalist.