Air quality Commission rolls back Stage IV of GRAP in Delhi NCR; breather for vehicles & industry

New Delhi, Nov 7 (KNN) With the prediction of air quality improvement in the coming days in Delhi NCR, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & Adjoining Areas  (CAQM) on Sunday ordered immediate relaxation on the restrictions and further roll back Stage IV of GRAP in the entire NCR.

The Sub-Committee for invoking actions under GRAP of the Commission for CAQM held a meeting to review the situation and take the appropriate call on the stringent actions under Stage IV of GRAP implemented in the entire NCR last week.

While comprehensively reviewing the overall air quality parameters of Delhi-NCR, the Commission noted that due to forecast by IMD/ IITM not indicating any steep degradation in the overall air quality of Delhi-NCR in the coming days, it is advisable to relax the restrictions and further roll back Stage IV of GRAP with immediate effect in the entire NCR.

The GRAP Sub-Committee in its last meeting held on November 3, 2022 invoked Stage IV of GRAP in the entire NCR and decided to review its impact on Sunday.

The GRAP Sub-Committee in its earlier meetings had invoked actions under Stage I, Stage II, Stage III and Stage IV of the GRAP on October 5, 2022, October 19, 2022 and November 3, 2022, respectively.

As the present AQI level of Delhi is around 340 which is about 110 AQI points below the threshold for invoking the GRAP Stage-IV actions (Delhi AQI > 450) and preventive/ mitigative/ restrictive actions under all Stages up to Stage-IV are underway, there is a likelihood of sustaining the improvement in AQI. The forecast by IMD/ IITM also do not indicate any steep degradation further.

The GRAP Stage-IV is a disruptive stage of restrictions and impacts a large number of stakeholders and public at large. There are no stricter measures, than as laid in GRAP Stage-IV, that could be taken to improve upon the air quality scenario.

The sub-Committee shall be keeping a close watch on the air quality scenario and may take appropriate decisions depending on the air quality, as recorded from time to time, and the forecasts made by IMD/IITM to this effect.

Further, the Commission has once again appealed to the citizens of NCR to cooperate in implementing GRAP and follow the steps mentioned in the Citizen Charter under GRAP.

The revised schedule of GRAP is available on the Commission’s website and can be accessed via caqm.nic.in.  (KNN Bureau)