'Can't Bring Down AQI Within 8-9 Months': Delhi Environment Minister Apologises As National Capital Grapples With Hazardous Air Quality

New Delhi: As the national capital continues to grapple with hazardous air quality, Delhi’s environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, while addressing a press conference today (December 16, 2025), apologised to the people of Delhi over the city’s air quality and stated that the pollution crisis cannot be reversed within 8-9 months. 

The minister also trained guns on the previous Aam Aadmi Party government blaming them for the prevailing situation in the capital.

The minister added, "It is impossible for any elected government to reduce AQI in 9-10 months. I apologise for the pollution in Delhi. We are doing better work than the dishonest AAP government, and we have reduced AQI each day. This disease of pollution is given to us by the Aam Aadmi Party, and we are working to fix it,” as per the news agency ANI.

Sirsa's comment comes against the backdrop of the Air Quality Index (AQI) remaining in the “severe” category for three consecutive days before easing to “very poor” today.

In another big move to curb the rising air pollution, environment minister, apologising for the air pollution in Delhi, also announced that vehicle owners in the city without a valid Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) will be denied fuel at petrol pumps from Thursday.

As per data, of the total improper challans issued by on the ground police personnels in September, 54,615 were for driving without a PUCC, forming 17%, as per the enforcement data reports. The number in October too were alarmingly high, when a total of 68,986 PUCC challans (23%) were issued.

7 Buses, 3 Cars Collide Amid Dense Fog

Following dense fog, thirteen individuals were charred to death as several vehicles collided against one other on the Delhi-Agra Expressway which resulted in a massive fire in the early hours of Monday, reports indicated. According to the police, 25 people were injured in the incident.

Senior Superintendent of Police of Mathura Shlok Kumar said that four people were burnt alive in the accident. He described that seven buses and three small vehicles collided against one another owing to low visibility in the dense fog.

The accident on the Delhi-Agra Expressway took place a day after at least four people, including two police officers died in a massive pile-up of vehicles on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway near Raniyala Patakpur village. According to reports, dense fog caused low visibility, leading to an initial two-truck collision that escalated to involve 20-25 vehicles. The crash on Monday was caused due to a flipped truck spilling guavas, creating a slippery risk on the road. The resulting hazardous, slick road surface rapidly caused more vehicles to crash into the pile-up.

Delhi AQI Today

Meanwhile, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi has reported an Air Quality Index of 401 on Tuesday, categorised as ‘Severe’. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has invoked all actions under GRAP Stage-IV in the Delhi-NCR area.

Earlier on Monday, several cities across Uttar Pradesh woke up to thick smog, as air quality deteriorated in different parts of the state and visibility dropped sharply.

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