Centre invokes GRAP 'Stage II' measures as air quality plummets

New Delhi: The National Capital Region's authorities were instructed by the Centre's air quality panel on Saturday to raise parking rates in order to deter private travel and improve CNG or electric bus and metro services, given the expected rise in pollution levels. This move is part of the national government's 'Stage II' of the 'Graded Response Action Plan' (GRAP), which is a pollution management plan that is implemented in the Delhi-NCR to battle air pollution during the winter season.

At a meeting to review the air quality situation in the Delhi-NCR, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a statutory body responsible for proactively implementing GRAP, said forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) suggest Delhi's overall air quality is likely to dip and enter the 'very poor' category on October 23 and 24, owing to unfavourable meteorological and climatic conditions.

Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 248 on Saturday.

The panel therefore decided to invoke the measures under Stage II of GRAP in the entire NCR in addition to steps already taken under Stage I.

"All actions as envisaged under Stage-II be implemented in right earnest by all the agencies concerned in NCR with immediate effect, in addition to all Stage-I actions of GRAP already in force," it said in an order.

GRAP categorises actions into four stages: Stage I - 'Poor' (AQI 201-300); Stage II - 'Very Poor' (AQI 301-400); Stage III - 'Severe' (AQI 401-450); and Stage IV - 'Severe Plus' (AQI >450).

With PTI inputs