Delhi pollution: SC relaxes GRAP-4 restrictions amid marginal improvement in air quality

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Commission for Air Quality Management(CAQM) to reduce the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Stage-IV restrictions in Delhi to GRAP-Stage II in view of the betterment in the Air Quality Index(AQI).

The apex court advised the CAQM to also consider adding certain measures under GRAP-Stage III. If the AQI crosses 350, GRAP-III should be imposed and if it crosses 400, GRAP-IV must be imposed, the court observed.

The court's decision comes after the the SC on Monday observed that emergency measures under GRAP-Stage IV must be in force to deal with the precarious air quality in the region. The SC on Monday made it clear that it would not permit any relaxation without there being a “clear downward trend” in the Air Quality Index (AQI).

The CAQM in Delhi and adjoining areas submitted a report to the court seeking that emergency measures be scaled down from Grap-4 to Grap-2 as the AQI on December 1 was 285 (poor) after being in the severe (400+) or very poor (300+) zones for 32 days.

Restrictions under Stage 4 of Grap, which has been in place in Delhi-NCR since November 18, include a complete ban on all types of construction and demolition activities, entry of trucks, and light commercial vehicles registered outside Delhi into the Capital, and a ban on entry of BS-4 or lower medium and heavy goods vehicles.

Measures under Stage 2, which is mainly preventive, include mechanical sweeping and road sprinkling, dust control steps, targeted and focused action on pollution hot spots and augmenting CNG, electric and Metro services.