GRAP 4 Curbs Revoked In Delhi-NCR As Air Quality Improves

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas on Wednesday revoked curbs imposed under GRAP 4 following improvement in air quality, officials said.

The Commission had on December 13 invoked Stage-IV under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) when the average AQI of Delhi sharply declined and breached the 450 mark on the same day.

"The CAQM Sub-Committee on GRAP today reviewed the current air quality scenario in the region as well as forecasts for meteorological conditions and AQI. It noted that the AQI of Delhi has shown significant improvement since yesterday night owing to favourable meteorological conditions, including high wind speed, and stood at 271 ('Poor' category)," an official said.

Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)/Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) forecasts indicate the likelihood of the average AQI of Delhi to stay between 'poor' and 'very poor' categories in the coming days.

"Keeping in view the disruptive nature of restrictions under Stage-IV of the extant GRAP impacting a large number of stakeholders and public as well as the improvement in the average AQI of Delhi, the panel decided to revoke all actions under Stage-IV of the extant schedule of GRAP in the entire NCR with immediate effect," the official added.

All actions under Stages III, II and I of the extant schedule of GRAP (November 2025), however, remain in place and will be implemented, monitored and reviewed by all agencies concerned in the entire NCR to ensure that the AQI levels do not rise further in the coming days.

"Construction & Demolition project sites etc. which have been issued specific closure orders on account of violations/ non-compliances of various statutory directions, rules, guidelines etc shall under no circumstances, resume their operations without any specific order to this effect from the Commission.

"While GRAP Stage-IV 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 Stages III, II and I of the extant schedule of GRAP," the official said.