The Centre’s pollution watchdog on Tuesday lifted Stage-4 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR as the city’s air quality showed signs of improvement.
The Commission for
Air Quality Management (CAQM) said in an order that measures under Stage-1, 2, and 3 will continue to remain in force.
“While GRAP Stage-4 is being revoked, keeping in view the winter season when weather conditions may not be always favourable and in order to ensure that the AQI levels do not slip further, citizens are requested to strictly adhere to the citizen charter under GRAP Stage-1, 2 & 3,” the order added.
Delhi’s three-day run of ‘severe’ air pollution ended on Tuesday morning, with the city’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) improving slightly to 395, classified as ‘very poor’.
However, pollution remained a concern across several areas. Out of the monitoring stations reporting, 23 were still in the ‘severe’ category, 14 in ‘very poor’, and one in ‘poor’, according to the CPCB Sameer app.
Wazirpur recorded the worst air quality with an AQI of 445, followed by Anand Vihar at 444 and Jahangirpuri at 443. For context, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) classifies AQI levels from 0–50 as ‘good’, 51–100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 as ‘moderate’, 201–300 as ‘poor’, 301–400 as ‘very poor’, and 401–500 as ‘severe’.
Delhi had faced three consecutive days of ‘severe’ pollution from Saturday to Monday, prompting CAQM to enforce Stage-4 restrictions. The Air Quality Warning System has forecast that pollution is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category over the next two days.
Weather offered little relief, with the minimum temperature at Safdarjung recorded at 7.2°C and maximum expected to reach 24°C, along with moderate fog.
(With inputs from PTI)
