Overview

• Delhi will procure more than 3,000 electric heaters for RWA staff, forest guards and unorganised industrial workers to discourage open fires in winter.
• The Divisional Commissioner’s office will oversee implementation, with the Environment Department tasked with monitoring the campaign.
• Senior officials from DSIIDC, the Environment Department and DPCC held a virtual meeting to set up needs assessment and a fair distribution plan ahead of the season.
• The move follows limited compliance with past CAQM advisories, with a little over 350 RWAs reportedly providing heaters as of November last year.
• Authorities cite source-apportionment findings linking biomass burning to winter pollution and position the rollout alongside intensified landfill biomining and waste-to-energy operations that have reduced fire incidents this year.