Govt. mulling revival of shared cab rides to curb pollution: CM

The Delhi government plans to hold discussions with cab aggregators like Ola and Uber to explore resuming shared taxi rides discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a broader push to reduce vehicular pollution, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Friday, as the Capital’s air quality plunged into the ‘very poor’ category. She said the government is in continuous dialogue with stakeholders to prioritise shared mobility while planning to increase the number of women drivers and integrate private electric vehicles into the city’s taxi service ecosystem. The focus is “on ensuring that fewer vehicles can safely, conveniently, and affordably transport more passengers”, Ms. Gupta said, adding that it is essential to reducing congestion and pollution. The CM said shared transport and electric mobility are being actively promoted because reducing vehicles on the roads is critical for effective pollution control. Infrastructure upgrade Ms. Gupta also reviewed the status of vehicle fitness testing infrastructure in the city. She said the fitness centre at Jhuljhuli is operational and currently tests around 70,000 vehicles annually, while the Burari facility is being upgraded. “Two more centres at Nand Nagri and Tehkhand are expected to become operational by March next year. Together, these four centres will be able to conduct fitness tests for nearly 2.5 to 3 lakh commercial vehicles annually,” an official statement said. Reiterating the core objective of the transport policy, Ms. Gupta said the government aims to reduce the number of vehicles on Delhi’s roads without inconveniencing daily commuters. Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said last week the government was working on a carpooling app aimed at cutting vehicular emissions. No let up ahead According to the Central government’s Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category from Saturday to Monday, with a similar outlook for the subsequent six days. Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 332 (‘very poor’) at 4 p.m. on Friday, up from 234 (‘poor’) a day earlier, as per the Central Pollution Control Board. Meanwhile, the Delhi Transport Department intensified enforcement under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), impounding 28 buses in a single day for violating emission norms. Nearly 5,000 vehicles were inspected and close to 4,000 challans issued in the past 24 hours. Even as GRAP-IV restrictions were lifted after a brief improvement, Mr. Sirsa cautioned that weather conditions could worsen. “According to the weather department and past data, the impact of western disturbance will be visible in Delhi in the next couple of days. The weather will deteriorate again and there is a strong possibility of heavy haze,” he said. “The clear weather we saw over the past couple of days may not last. We all need to work together to keep Delhi’s air clean,” the Minister added. Published - December 27, 2025 01:48 am IST

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