NEW DELHI: The Centre’ air quality panel on Friday said the ongoing anti-pollution actions under Stages I and II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) will continue in Delhi-NCR and there is no need for invoking curbs under stage III at present.
In view of the improvement in the air quality, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday directed authorities to revoke the curbs enforced in Delhi-NCR under Stage 3 of GRAP, including a ban on construction and demolition activities, barring essential projects.
The sub-committee for invoking anti-pollution curbs under GRAP held a meeting on Wednesday to review the air quality situation and the progress of the actions implemented in the region. The panel has decided that the ongoing actions under Stage I and II of GRAP shall continue and there is no need to invoke Stage III of GRAP at this stage”, the CAQM said.
“According to the dynamic model and weather/meteorological forecast provided by the India Meteorological Department/ Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, the overall air quality is likely to fluctuate largely between ‘poor’ and the lower end of ‘very poor’ categories in the next few days. The predominant surface wind is predicted to be coming from the north/north-west direction,” it said.
Delhi’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 289 on Wednesday. There has been a slight dip in the air quality of Delhi but any major spike in pollution levels is unlikely in the coming days. However, the commission also said that the GRAP sub-committee is closely watching the situation and will review the air quality scenario accordingly. The central panel invoked Stage I of GRAP in Delhi-NCR on October 5 when the air quality entered the ‘poor’ category.