Capital’s air quality remains ‘severe’, but no GRAP-III restrictions in place

Delhi continues to grapple with toxic air as pollution levels remained high in several areas for second day today. On Sunday, the AQI was recorded at 370, placing it in the ‘very poor’ category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

Among 39 monitoring stations in the city, pollution levels exceeded the 400-mark at eight stations, while 18 others recorded an AQI above 350.

Despite the AQI staying above 350 for two consecutive days – Saturday and Sunday, Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Stage-III restrictions are yet not in place. As per a 2024 court order, the regulatory body needs to implement Stage III restrictions immediately once the AQI reaches 350, shifting down from the original threshold of 400. The order further stated that Stage IV measures be invoked at an AQI of 400, 50 points lower than the original threshold here too.

Despite an increase in pollution, Stage II of the GRAP is in place, which was invoked on October 19 when the AQI first surpassed 300. This was less than a week after Stage I was imposed after AQI crossed 200.

In a statement, the CPCB mentioned that after Delhi’s daily average AQI was hovering around the higher end of ‘very poor’ category in the morning, a review meeting of the CAQM sub-committee on GRAP was called.

Given that Delhi’s daily average AQI showed a consistent declining trend, with AQI improving to 370 at 4 pm on Sunday and further improving to 365 at 5 pm, and a forecast by IMD, IITM also indicating the overall AQI of Delhi to stay in ‘very poor’ category in the coming days, the sub-committee on GRAP opined that invocation of Stage-III of GRAP is not required at the moment and ongoing measures under Stages I & II of the extant schedule of GRAP to continue in the NCR, it added.

The sub-committee is keeping a close watch on the situation and will review the air quality scenario of Delhi-NCR accordingly, the statement further read.

The CPCB categorises an AQI between 0 and 50 in “good” level, 51 to 100 “satisfactory”, 101 to 200 “moderate”, 201 to 300 “poor”, 301 to 400 “very poor” and 401 to 500 “severe” category. Among the worst-hit areas were Punjabi Bagh where AQI touched 420, Bawana (412), Nehru Nagar (405), Jahangirpuri (405), Wazirpur (405), Mundka (404), Rohini (403) and Vivek Vihar (402).

As the toxic smog thickens over the Capital, a public protest against rising air pollution was organised at India Gate in the evening, demanding stronger and immediate action from the authorities concerned.