With the sudden dip in air quality in the last 24 hours, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Wednesday said that measures under ‘Stage-1’ of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) will be enforced in the national capital region with immediate effect.
The CAQM also announced an immediate ban on all construction and demolition activity carried over an area of 500 sqm. and above that are not registered on the web portals created by the governments of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Delhi battles a harsh winter pollution with a dense layer of fog engulfing the city and its adjoining areas every year, bringing days of toxic air, eye-stinging, coughing, and nausea for the residents.
What is GRAP?
GRAP is a set of emergency measures which comes in force when the air quality deteriorates. Delhi’s AQI was in the poor category (211) when Stage 1 of GRAP kicks in.
The AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, 401 and 450 ‘severe’ and 451-500 “severe+”. The next three stages of GRAP will be activated when the AQI dip further to very poor, severe and severe+ categories. The measures include banning construction activities and entry of trucks into Delhi.
Revised GRAP to be Implemented This Year
The GRAP, which was first notified in January 2017 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, was revised by the CAQM. Earlier, it was the responsibility of now dissolved Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority but from 2021 onwards, the GRAP is being implemented by the CAQM. The revised GRAP will be implemented based on the AQI.
New Measures Under Revised GRAP
The revised GRAP comes with new measures to combat air pollution. It allows the state governments to impose restrictions on BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four wheelers under Stage-3 when the AQI reaches ‘severe’ category.
Under the ‘severe +’ category, four-wheelers in Delhi-NCR except for BS-VI vehicles and those plying for emergency or essential services will be banned and also diesel-operated medium and heavy goods vehicles in Delhi, except those carrying essential commodities or providing essential services. Construction activities (except for those involving railways, projects of national security, hospitals, metro services, and linear public projects like highways, roads) will be banned under the “severe” category.
Several Other Measures Being Considered
According to Indian Express, measures like closure of schools and odd-even rule for vehicles, work from home provision for 50% strength of public, municipal and private offices may be considered by the state governments under the ‘severe+’ category.
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