MCD Sitting On Rs 48 Crore Pollution Funds Even As GRAP Returns To Delhi: RTI

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is sitting on Rs 47.96 crore in unspent pollution-control funds as of May 2026, even as the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) this week re-imposed GRAP-1 measures after Delhi’s air quality slipped into the ‘poor’ category.

In a reply to an RTI filed by News18, the MCD stated that at the start of financial year 2026-27, it had Rs 54.34 crore as the opening balance. The agency spent Rs 6.38 crore this financial year, leaving Rs 47.96 crore as unspent.

Between 2021-22 and 2026-27 so far, the MCD received Rs 72.41 crore for pollution-control measures but spent only Rs 24.45 crore.

To fight air pollution in Delhi, funds are issued under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) from the Ministry of Environment,

Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

The funds are routed through the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) before being allocated to urban local bodies. The local bodies receiving the funds in Delhi are MCD and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).

NCAP was launched by MoEFCC in January 2019. The first time the funds were allocated or released for Delhi was in 2021-22. That year, no utilisation was reported.

Last month, News18 reported about the flow of funds and underutilisation. However, the MCD details were awaited. Now the latest update shows that the agency received Rs 11.24 crore in 2021-22 and Rs 22.50 crore in 2022-23—a total of Rs 33.74 crore.

Even after receiving Rs 33.74 crore during the first two years of funding, the MCD’s cumulative expenditure till May 2026 stood at only Rs 24.45 crore. In effect, the civic body’s cumulative expenditure over subsequent years did not exceed the allocation received during the first two years alone.

The MCD did not receive fresh allocations in 2023-24, 2024-25 or 2026-27 so far. However, Rs 38.67 crore was allocated to the civic body in 2025-26.

In terms of expenditure, the agency spent Rs 7.54 crore in 2022-23. The reply from MCD shows that a part of this amount—Rs 2.41 crore as contractual expenditure—was used for road improvement and dust-control works in parts of Rohini and Pitampura.

A total of Rs 5.05 crore was spent in 2023-24. However, the expenditure sharply declined in 2024-25 with the MCD spending only Rs 80.56 lakh despite carrying forward more than Rs 20 crore as balance. The MCD spent Rs 4.66 crore in 2025-26 and Rs 6.38 crore in 2026-27 till May.

A department-wise break-up of expenditure was not provided by the MCD so far. However, the planning department shared a list of 45 works booked in 2025-26, including 31 works related to paving of internal roads, in areas including Chandni Chowk, Punjabi Bagh and Shakur Basti.

The list includes development of parks in 12 locations covering areas like Jangpura Ext, Govindpuri, Sarita Vihar and Jasola Vihar.

Almost Rs 6 crore was “booked” for the procurement of six truck mounted mechanical road sweeping machines and about Rs 1 crore was for installation of sprinklers on 27 truck mounted water tankers.

However, the list only referred to works that were “booked” and did not clarify whether the amounts had actually been spent.

Speaking to News18, an official from MCD explained that for about three years, the elections for the Standing Committee could not be held due to a political deadlock and a subsequent case. The committee was formed only in June 2025. The committee has executive powers to approve projects worth over Rs 5 crore.

“The committee is the main decision-making body in MCD. It takes important decisions, including clearing major expenditure and procurement orders. Its absence led to administrative bottlenecks, delayed tendering and slow execution of pollution-control projects,” they explained, adding that the formation of the committee has pushed the work and major improvements can be expected in the coming months.

Delhi’s Air Still Above Safe Limits

In 2025, Delhi’s annual average PM10 and PM2.5 concentration remained at 198 µg/m³ and 97 µg/m³—lowest since 2018, excluding the pandemic year 2020. However, it was much higher than the prescribed standard 60 µg/m3 for PM10 and 40 µg/m3 for PM2.5. Particulate Matter (PM), an indicator of ambient pollution, is basically a mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets.

In terms of average Air Quality Index (AQI), in 2025, as per Union government data, Delhi reported 200 ‘Good to Moderate’ days with AQI below 200. The city recorded 157 days in the ‘Poor to Very Poor’ category and eight ‘Severe to Severe+’ days.

The AQI is classified into six categories: 0-50 ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’, and 401-500 ‘severe’.

In 2025-26, GRAP Stage-1, with stricter stages imposed subsequently, remained in force in Delhi between October 14, 2025 and March 16, 2026 amid deteriorating air quality—over five months or 154 days. GRAP Stage-II stayed active for 123 days from October 19, 2025 to February 18, 2026.

In 2026-27, GRAP-1 was first imposed on April 16 and stayed active till May 4 when all the restrictions were removed.

On May 19, Delhi’s AQI again crossed 200, entering the ‘poor’ category, following which the CAQM re-imposed GRAP-1 measures.