Delhi pollution: Grap 3 curbs on cars and construction lifted
According to CAQM forecasts, Delhi’s air was unlikely to touch the “severe” category in the coming days.
The Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Tuesday lifted stage 3 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) effectively lifting the ban on construction activities and private BS3 and BS4 four-wheelers from plying in Delhi and parts of the national capital region (NCR), citing an improvement in the air quality following rains.

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According to CAQM forecasts, Delhi’s air was unlikely to touch the “severe” category in the coming days. “Keeping in view the disruptive nature of restrictions under Stage-3 of GRAP impacting a large number of stakeholders and public, as well as considering the significant improvement in the average AQI of Delhi-NCR, the GRAP sub-committee unanimously decided to revoke Stage-III of GRAP in the entire NCR with immediate effect,” CAQM said in a statement on Tuesday evening, asking agencies to put concerted efforts so the air quality does not deteriorate again. The other measures lifted under stage 3 include a ban on mining and stone crushers in NCR.
Though the imposition or lifting of the ban on private construction activities does not require a notification by the Delhi government, a notification has to be issued by the transport department when it comes to private four-wheelers, which the department said it would bring out shortly.
“We have received the order from CAQM in the evening and the restrictions on vehicles will be revoked as per Grap guidelines. We would still encourage people to use shared rides and public transport as their preferred commute option in Delhi,” said Ashish Kundra, transport secretary cum commissioner in the Delhi government.
In its statement, CAQM said it had looked at air quality forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), which showed air quality was expected to hover in the “very poor” zone and not deteriorate.
Stage 3 of Grap is imposed when the AQI is 400 or higher, or expected to touch that range. Delhi’s AQI has been below 400 for the past four days now, improving significantly on Tuesday.
Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 312 (very poor) according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s national bulletin released at 4pm. This improved to 294 (poor) 6pm.
In comparison, the AQI was 395 (very poor) at 4pm on Monday, 396 (very poor) on Sunday and 389 (very poor) on Saturday.
Stage 3 measures were invoked by CAQM on November 2, when the AQI was clocked at 301for the first time this season. Stage-4 or the “severe plus” category measures were invoked on November 5 but removed on November 18, after the AQI marginally improved.
Unlike last year, the ban on private four-wheelers was made mandatory this year according to the new Grap revised in July. The ban on private four-wheelers was also extended to the neighbouring Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar.
The ban on diesel vehicles impacted around 387,000 registered in Delhi. The enforcement team of the transport department has so far penalised over 2,700 such vehicles since November 2, imposing a “no parking” challan of ₹20,000 each.
Amandeep Singh, 38, a resident of West Patel Nagar, said he was unable to use his five-year-old BS4 car during the ban which he had purchased in 2018. “I was relying on private cabs to travel to and from work in Gurugram. Such bans do not work as only a small segment has been targeted,” he said.
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