Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has termed the ever-increasing air pollution in the capital as an inherited problem and said there is no magic wand to end it immediately. Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2025 on Saturday (December 6), he said that Delhi’s pollution has been a challenge that has been brewing for years, which did not arise suddenly today.
Rekha Gupta said that a huge city like Delhi, spread over 1,500 square kilometers and with a population of about 3 crores, faces special circumstances. He said, “This problem is not of one day. It is an old reality. There are many reasons for it, population, vehicles, construction, geographical conditions. And there is no magic wand for such a problem.”
The Chief Minister also raised questions on previous governments from the stage. He said, “What did the old governments do? What we are facing today is the result of years of negligence.” He also said that tackling pollution is a continuous process and it would be irresponsible to claim any fixed timeline for it. Citing the ever-increasing number of vehicles and uncontrolled population of the city as the main reasons, Rekha Gupta said, “You cannot take steps like lockdown in Delhi. We have to run the city and also fight pollution.”
#HTLS2025 “Pollution is a legacy problem”: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta (@gupta_rekha) to @padmajajoshi on air pollution in the national capital pic.twitter.com/ku4XagfW9k
— NDTV (@ndtv) December 6, 2025
The Chief Minister said that his government has been working rapidly in the last 10 months. He said that the BJP government has distributed 10,000 heaters during winter nights to stop open burning, so that people are not forced to light fires. Apart from this, water is also being sprinkled on the roads for relief. She said, “I can say with confidence that in these 10 months of our government, we have started the work which previous governments should have done years ago.”
CM Rekha Gupta also reacted to the allegations of making ‘fake pond’ on the banks of Yamuna during Chhath Puja. He termed this as baseless and said that Yamuna cleaning is a huge project, as almost all the major drains of Delhi fall into Yamuna.
“Cleaning of Yamuna is going on war footing. But it is not a task to be completed in a day. We are making every possible effort and taking a step forward every day,” the Chief Minister said. The opposition has been continuously raising questions on the recent steps of the government, while Rekha Gupta claims that the current government has systematically carried forward the work assigned in just 10 months.
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