Delhi to re-engage 10,000 civil defence volunteers for anti-pollution efforts

Chief minister Atishi said that they will engage around 10,000 civil defence volunteers (CDVs) to carry out and monitor measures to control pollution, in another effort by the Delhi government as it grapples to control the toxic air crisis that currently shrouds the city.
The volunteers will be deployed in various roles, such as checking entry of restricted vehicles at city borders and assisting enforcement teams at pollution hotspots, among others, the CM said. The registration to volunteer will start within a week, she added.
“These volunteers will be at PUC centres to prevent the issuance of improper pollution certificates. They will work alongside inspection teams to monitor construction dust, waste burning, and diesel generator usage,” Atishi said at a press conference at the Delhi Secretariat, where environment minister Gopal Rai and other senior officials were present. The volunteers will also be deployed in Green War Rooms to manage pollution-related complaints, Atishi said.

Rai cited the upcoming festival of Diwali and the ongoing stubble burning as key reasons for the volunteers’ increased deployment.
These volunteers are part of civil defence which is the government’s emergency response organisation. The decision to deploy them comes even as stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan, or Grap, is currently in effect. Under this, restrictions and measures rolled out when the air quality index (AQI) breaches the 301-mark and turns “very poor”. On Monday, the city’s AQI stood at 304 at 4pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily bulletin.
Additionally, bus marshals will be deployed alongside enforcement teams for checking at Delhi borders to prevent the entry of restricted vehicles, Atishi said. “CDVs will be deployed in awareness campaigns as well, along with in providing support to Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) enforcement teams which monitor construction and demolition waste, illegal dumping, open waste burning, and the use of diesel generator sets. They will be deployed along with MCD deputy commissioners at 13 hotspots and 27 other locations in Delhi where pollution levels are high and require monitoring,” the CM said.
The 13 pollution hotspots include Anand Vihar, Mundka, Wazirpur, Jahangirpuri, RK Puram, Rohini, Punjabi Bagh, Okhla, Bawana, Vivek Vihar, Narela, Ashok Vihar and Dwarka.
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“DPCC has also formed 33 teams that are consistently inspecting dust prevention measures at construction sites. Bus marshals and civil defence volunteers will be attached to these teams as well. Furthermore, they will also be involved in checking whether complaints are being addressed in the Green War Room,” Atishi said. “The registration of CDVs will expectedly begin in the next one week.”
Rai said: “In the coming days, pollution will increase due to burning of stubble, Diwali firecrackers and traffic jams due to crowds in the markets. I have full faith that Civil Defence volunteers, who earlier worked to protect sisters, will now protect the breath of the people of entire Delhi…we are confident that with their help, we will be able to bridge the implementation gap that existed in curbing pollution.”
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To be sure, previously, around 10,000 CDVs worked as bus marshals since 2017 but their services were discontinued in November 2023. The re-engagement of CDVs is expected to last for four months. On October 24, lieutenant governor VK Saxena also directed the deployment of CDVs for four months.
Meanwhile, the decision to re-engage CDVs reignited a political blame game between the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP. CM Atishi accused the BJP-led central government of discontinuing services of bus marshals in April 2023 by halting their salaries, which led to the CDVs’ dismissal. “The Delhi government has supported the bus marshals’ protests over the past year, and despite the BJP’s interference, we ensured their re-engagement,” Atishi said.
On the other hand, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva blamed the AAP government for the plight of CDVs for the last one year, and said Atishi was falsely taking credit for their reengagement. “The Kejriwal government appointed these volunteers as bus marshals without following administrative procedures and made no provisions for their permanent employment. When the matter got stuck in vigilance investigations, it was Kejriwal himself who ordered their dismissal as bus marshals. The BJP facilitated a meeting between bus marshals delegation and the LG. At the volunteers’ request, the LG reappointed them to work on anti-pollution initiatives,” Sachdeva said.