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Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday announced staggered working hours for Delhi government and MCD employees from November 15 to February 15 in view of rising pollution in the city. According to an official statement, Delhi government offices would now function from 10 am to 6.30 pm and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) offices from 8.30 am to 5 pm, it said. At present, Delhi government offices operate between 9.30 am and 6 pm, and MCD offices from 9 am to 5.30 pm. The statement said that since there is currently only a 30-minute gap between the two schedules, the city experiences heavy traffic congestion both in the morning and the evening, aggravating the city's air pollution. The decision has been taken as a precautionary measure to help curb the problem of pollution, ensuring that the pressure of vehicular traffic does not increase all at once on the roads, thereby distributing traffic more evenly and reducing pollution levels, it said. Gupta said in the statement that the decision was taken after a meeting with senior scientific officers from the Department of Environment to review Delhi's deteriorating air quality. During winter, concentrations of pollutants such as PM 2.5 and PM 10 rise well above normal standards, severely deteriorating air quality and posing serious risks to public health, she said. Particulate matter (PM) of size 10 microns and smaller, and those 2.5 microns or less, have a harmful chemical composition. After being inhaled through polluted air, these cause different health hazards, the chief minister said. Increasing the gap between the working hours of the two institutions would help reduce the number of vehicles on the roads at any given time, thereby assisting in pollution control, Gupta said. Since pollution levels are expected to rise between November 15, 2025, and February 15, 2026, the government has implemented new winter timings for offices. The goal is to distribute traffic load more evenly and ensure better air quality for citizens, she said. The chief minister also instructed officials to implement the new schedule strictly and to continuously monitor traffic and pollution levels. She expressed confidence that these steps would help reduce pollution and bring much-needed relief to Delhi's residents, according to the statement. Published on November 8, 2025
