Delhi Air Pollution Turns Severe, GRAP-III Restrictions Imposed - Construction Halted, Buses Banned

Delhi Air Polluiton: The tighter rule is aimed to curb pollution emnating from different sources as the AQI reached 418 on Thursday.

Delhi Air Pollution: With Delhi's Air Quality Index entering the 'severe' level, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has ordered to implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)-III in the national capital region. With this, the construction will be halted across the region and inter-state buses/trucks won't be allowed to ply. The tighter rule is aimed to curb pollution emnating from different sources as the AQI reached 418 on Thursday.

What Is Allowed? What Is Not?

With the GRAP-III in effect, all non-essential construction and demolition work are banned. Under the enforcement of GRAP-3, petrol vehicles that comply with the older BS-III emission standards and diesel vehicles meeting BS-IV standards are prohibited from operating on roads in Delhi and specific areas of the National Capital Region (NCR), including Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Gautam Budh Nagar.

As per CAQM, there will be a strict ban on construction and demolition activities - road construction, including paving of sidewalks, restriction on boring and drilling work, laying of sewer line, drainage work etc, loading and unloading of construction material, and movement of vehicles on unpaved roads.

Under the third stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), all inter-state buses from NCR states -- except electric vehicles, CNG vehicles and BS-VI diesel buses -- will be prohibited from entering Delhi, alongside a stringent ban on construction and demolition activities, suspension of mining-related activities, consideration of shifting to online classes for students up to Class 5 and daily water sprinkling on major roads.

Under the third stage of the GRAP, there would be restrictions on the plying of BS-lll petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles in Delhi and the districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar.

The GRAP has 4 stages — stage I when AQI ranges between 201 and 300, stage II when AQI is 301-400, stage III when AQI is 401-450 and stage IV when AQI is between 450 and 500.