GRAP stage III kicks in Delhi NCR: Air quality panel bans non-essential construction work

With pollution levels worsening, the Centre's air quality panel on Sunday directed authorities to impose a ban on non-essential construction work in Delhi-NCR under stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

Grap stage III will be implented in Delhi-NCR, which means that there will be a ban on all construction activities. However, there will be certain exception including railways, metros, airports.

The panel had last month also imposed a ban on construction activity in the Delhi-NCR region to curb rising air pollution.

The overall air quality level in the national capital once again deteriorated to the 'severe category' on Sunday, mainly due to adverse atmospheric conditions. The Air Quality Index (AQI) measured around 400, the weather experts said.

"Due to low wind speed and decrease in mixing layer height, the air quality is deteriorating in Delhi. Today the air quality has come to the severe category with AQI around 400. We will see an improvement in AQI from evening onwards," a scientist at the Air Quality Division of India Meteorological Centre, Vijay Soni, said.



The AQI level witnessed a sharp decline on Sunday. Around 7 am in the morning, the AQI was measured at 340, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). Yesterday evening, the AQI was at 370.