Amid worsening air quality, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has ordered staggered working hours for government and MCD employees to ease traffic congestion. The measure will run from November 15 to February 15. This aims to distribute peak-hour traffic and reduce pollution levels in the capital.
Delhi's air quality hit a severe low on Friday, with an air quality index (AQI) of 322, making it the most polluted city in India according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). In response, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced staggered working hours for Delhi government offices and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as a three-month experiment from November 15 to February 15.
Currently, government offices operate from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., while MCD offices run from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Under the new schedule, government offices will shift to 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and MCD offices to 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) stated that the slim 30-minute gap in existing timings leads to heavy traffic congestion in the mornings and evenings, exacerbating air pollution.
"This decision has been taken as a precautionary measure to help curb pollution, ensuring that the pressure of vehicular traffic does not increase all at once on the roads, thereby distributing traffic more evenly and reducing pollution levels," an official from the CMO explained. The announcement followed a meeting with Environment department officials to review the city's deteriorating AQI.
Staggered timings have been recommended by the Commission for Air Quality Management in previous years to combat pollution. Meanwhile, the AQI rose from 311 the previous day and remained 'very poor' at 322 by 4 p.m. on Friday. Contributions from stubble burning to PM2.5 levels stood at 8.6%, expected to surge to around 31% over the weekend, per Union Ministry of Earth Sciences data. Similar measures were implemented by past governments during peak pollution seasons.