• ●CAQM — Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas — is a statutory body created by the CAQM in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021; the review meeting was chaired by its Chairperson, Shri Rajesh Verma.
• ●Its jurisdiction covers the NCR plus adjoining areas of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh where a pollution source can affect NCR air quality.
• ●Where there is conflict, CAQM's directions prevail over orders of the state governments, the Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution Control Boards.
• ●The directions at issue: mandatory registration of every C&D project on a plot of 500 sq metres or more, plus a functional video monitoring system on the State/GNCTD web portal.
• ●In the 19-22 June 2026 remote check, active registered C&D sites numbered 213 in Panipat, 457 in Sonipat, 168 in Faridabad, 691 in Gurugram (North) and 484 in Gurugram (South) — but functional camera links existed at only 4, 6 and 5 sites in Faridabad, Gurugram (North) and Gurugram (South) respectively.
• ●CAQM has run sample-based remote monitoring through the HSPCB portal since 2024; the June findings were communicated to HSPCB on 8 July 2026.
• ●CAQM's best-known instrument is the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), an emergency NCR-wide mechanism triggered by Delhi's AQI: Stage I poor (AQI 201-300), Stage II very poor (301-400), Stage III severe (401-450) and Stage IV beyond that.
• ●The Central Pollution Control Board, a statutory body constituted in September 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and later entrusted with powers under the Air Act, 1981, is the national air-quality regulator.
• ●C&D waste was first regulated nationally by the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016; these were superseded by the Environment (Construction and Demolition) Waste Management Rules, 2025, notified on 2 April 2025 and effective from 1 April 2026, which introduce Extended Producer Responsibility for large builders.
• ●The wider programme is the National Clean Air Programme, launched by the MoEFCC in January 2019, covering 131 cities with a revised target of up to 40% reduction in PM10 by 2025-26.

In the National Capital Region, whose directions prevail in the event of a conflict with the orders of a State Pollution Control Board?