Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has set an October 31 deadline to complete work on 870 km of roads as it prepares for the winter pollution season. The commissioner, Sanjeev Khirwar, reported that around 600 km of the road network had been finished and that the projects were handed over to the MCD alongside a range of measures to control road dust, improve waste collection and prevent garbage burning. The civic agency framed the deadline as part of a broader effort to reduce local emissions before ambient air quality typically deteriorates.

Funding for the road work has progressed through the Chief Minister's Development Fund (CMDF) and other government-supported allocations, and road and dust management will form a major component of the pollution-control strategy. The MCD is procuring specialised machinery under an operational expenditure model, with a target of introducing some machines by mid-November. An order has been placed for 1,000-litre machines, and the civic body aims to receive 300-400 machines before October 31.

The civic body is strengthening collection and transportation contracts in several zones to enhance solid waste management and has targeted expansion of improved collection to 25 wards in west Delhi by September 20 to prevent accumulation and burning of garbage. Officials have identified 48 pollution hotspots across the city and deputy commissioners have been instructed to review those locations weekly. The commissioner emphasised that pollution control cannot be managed by the MCD alone and requires coordination among departments, including the Public Works Department (PWD) and environment authorities.

Management of construction and demolition waste sites is another focus, with 125 sites under observation and 110 reported as fully compliant after measures such as covering waste, installing water sprinklers and deploying CCTV. Around 1,200 air-polluting units in non-conforming areas have been sealed and the civic agency expects that figure to exceed 1,300 as efforts intensify. The measures precede the winter months, when road dust, waste burning and other local emission sources are likely to face heightened scrutiny.