As Delhi-NCR continues to grapple with hazardous winter pollution, the Centre’s air-quality regulator is exploring a new technological fix: deploying dust sensors along major roads to track one of the region’s biggest pollution sources—resuspended road dust.
According to officials familiar with the plan, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) is consulting technical experts to evaluate the reliability of these sensors and to identify stretches where they can be deployed for maximum impact. The proposal aims to develop a more granular system that can identify dust hotspots in real-time.
Environmental specialists say the initiative could help—but only if the data is backed by decisive action on the ground. “Sensors can give us more data, but what is critical is taking definitive steps to reduce emissions from all sources,” one expert noted.
The effort is part of a broader push to improve Delhi-NCR’s dust management strategy, particularly during severe pollution spells when PM10 and PM2.5 levels rise sharply. Delhi routinely enters the ‘severe’ category for days every winter, with road dust remaining one of the top contributors to particulate pollution in the region.
On Friday, transport emissions alone accounted for 19.88% of Delhi’s PM2.5 levels, according to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s Decision Support System.
Officials said such sensors would help identify exact locations where road dust is being generated, enabling micro-level interventions when they matter most.
“This is the next level of on-road standards. Sensors can be installed on the roads so we know how much dust is being generated and exactly where,” an official said.
Sunil Dahiya, Founder and Lead Analyst at Envirocatalysts, stressed the need for transparency in the programme. He said the sensor-generated data should be made public to ensure accountability.
“While sensors can give us more data, what is critical is that we prioritise reducing emissions from all sources,” he said. “Monitoring is the DPCC and CPCB’s mandate. CAQM’s role is to act on reducing pollution, though it can collaborate with them on such experiments.”
Real-time dust readings from the sensors would guide targeted interventions such as street cleaning, water sprinkling, repairs of broken stretches, and checks on rule violations. The data could also help assess whether measures under GRAP or construction bans are actually working at the ground level.
Similar systems are already in use globally. In Shanghai, for example, more than a hundred taxis are equipped with particulate sensors that relay live data on dust-prone areas—allowing authorities to identify and address pollution hotspots swiftly.
