Chandigarh, June 21 -- Acting on the directions of the National Green Tribunal to check chronic pollution in the industrial hub of Mandi Gobindgarh, the Punjab government has roped in the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi to undertake a comprehensive study of the city's airand recommend corrective measures. The department of science, technology and environment on Friday informed the tribunal that the state had assigned the Carrying Capacity Assessment and Source Apportionment Study to the institute through the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). A letter of award for the Rs.50-lakh study was issued on May 18, 2026, with the institute expected to complete it within six months. Mandi Gobindgarh, also known as Punjab's steel town with an estimated 500-600 units, has long been identified as a critically polluted industrial cluster. It has been designated as a non-attainment city by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for consistently failing to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The IIT study will employ advanced scientific tools, including Integrated Emission Inventory, AERMOD-based hotspot analysis and WRF-Chem regional modelling, to identify major pollution sources, assess the city's carrying capacity and recommend measures to improve air quality. Officials said the findings would form the basis of a city-specific Clean Air Action Plan and guide future regulatory interventions in one of Punjab's most polluted industrial centres. Once completed, the report will be submitted before the NGT, which may use the findings to review future environmental compliance measures in the region. In 2023, following a petition filed by Dimpal Kumar, the NGT had constituted a joint committee comprising officials from the CPCB, PPCB and the district administration to examine allegations of widespread violations of air quality norms by nearly 220 coal-fired furnaces operating in the town. The petition alleged that these furnaces, engaged in activities ranging from secondary steel production and refractory manufacturing to rolling mills, lead smelting and pyrolysis operations, were major contributors to air pollution in the industrial town, often leaving its skyline enveloped in smoke. Taking cognisance of the matter, an NGT bench headed by justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, in its order dated April 21, 2023, observed that a factual assessment was necessary to determine the extent of pollution and evaluate remedial measures required to improve air quality and reduce the town's Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI). The bench noted that available air quality monitoring data indicated that concentrations of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) were consistently exceeding the prescribed standards, raising serious environmental and public health concerns in the steel hub. The tribunal had then directed the committee to undertake a site inspection, interact with stakeholders and submit a detailed factual and action-taken report within two months. Three years later, while disposing of the matter on February 25, 2026, the NGT directed the Punjab government to assess the city's carrying capacity and submit a compliance report....