NEW DELHI: Anti-pollution restrictions under Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) were revoked in Delhi and its neighbouring areas on Friday as the city’s air quality showed improvement, according to an official order.
The restrictions have been eased further a day after the centre’s panel on Delhi-NCR’s air quality Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) rolled back GRAP IV.
With GRAP 3 no longer in force, all BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel cars can once again enter Delhi-NCR roads.
CAQM announced that Stage III of GRAP was withdrawn after Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 289. This figure falls 61 points below the Supreme Court-mandated threshold for invoking Stage III measures.
Calm winds, low temperatures and foggy conditions had allowed the accumulation of pollutants in Delhi earlier this week, promoting the CAQM to implement the strictest curbs under Stage 3 and 4 of GRAP earlier this week. GRAP Stage 3 entails a ban on non-essential construction work.