CAQM Orders PTZ Cameras at NCR Polluting Industries

The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has widened the remote watch it keeps on air-polluting factories. A new order extends the requirement to install and run Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras to every category of industry covered by the Commission Statutory Direction No. 98 in the National Capital Region. The fresh order replaces an earlier one issued by the Commission on 5 October 2026.

Which industries are covered

• All 17 categories of highly polluting industries identified by the Central Pollution Control Board
• Red Category air-polluting industries of medium and large size
• Food and food processing and textile units that run boilers or thermic fluid heaters
• Metal units that operate furnaces

What the cameras must watch

Cameras have to be fitted at every fuel-feeding point of boilers, thermic fluid heaters, furnaces, kilns and other fuel-fired equipment, so that the fuel actually being burnt can be seen. Units running on gaseous fuel must place cameras where the gas meters and gauges are readable. Further cameras are required to cover stack emissions, the sampling ports of online continuous emission monitoring systems and fume extraction areas. The number and field of view must leave no significant blind spot, and extra cameras are to be added where one cannot cover a location.

Live feeds and upkeep

Every camera must stream continuously in real time over the Real Time Streaming Protocol to servers and portals of the CPCB and the state pollution control boards or the Delhi body. Units are responsible for uninterrupted power with backup, for keeping the equipment working, and for reporting any long disruption to the board concerned along with the corrective step taken. Picture quality must hold up at night where night work is done.

Deadline and enforcement

Installation and operation, with live transmission in place, must be completed by 30 November 2026. The CPCB has to provide the portals and servers to receive the feeds, while the state boards and the Delhi body check compliance in their areas. The governments of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and the Delhi administration are to ensure the order is carried out. CAQM flying squads had found units burning unapproved fuels, which is why surveillance has been tightened. Industrial emissions, including particulate matter from stacks, also form secondary particulate matter and weigh most heavily in winter, when still air traps pollutants near the ground.