‘Wait for downward trend in AQI’: Supreme Court says ‘no’ to relaxing GRAP-4 curbs in Delhi

The bench also asked chief secretaries of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana to appear via video-conferencing at 3:30 pm on Thursday.

Emergency measures under Stage-4 of the Graded Action Response Plan (GRAP), which deals with air pollution in Delhi, will be relaxed only after a "downward trend" is observed in the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the Capital, the Supreme Court said on Monday.

New Delhi, India- December 02, 2024: A view of foggy winter morning view amid rising air pollution near Kalindi Kunj. The air pollution level of Delhi NCR remains in the dangerous category, in New Delhi, India, on Monday, December 02, 2024. (Photo by Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times)

Also, the bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih sought information from chief secretaries of states, which fall under the National Capital Region (NCR), on whether or not they provided compensatton to construction workers and labourers, who are out of work due to the ban on construction activities as an anti-pollution measure under GRAP.

The bench asked chief secretaries of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana to appear via video-conferencing at 3:30 pm on Thursday.

During the hearing, the Delhi government was asked about the number of officers deployed by it to implement the curbs, especially preventing trucks from entering the city.

“There is hardly any implementation of Stage-4 of GRAP to deal with air pollution in the national capital,” the judges remarked.

Senior advocate Shadan Farasat, who appeared for Delhi, assured that the allegations of non-compliance of the GRAP restrictions will be looked into. However, Farasat stressed that “on the basis of 2-3 incidents,” it was “unfair” to suggest that all 1.5 crore people of the city were not following the restrictions.

Earlier, on November 29, the bench ruled that GRAP-4 will remain in effect until at least Monday, even as it directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to act against the “abject failure” of police, state, and civic authorities in implementing these measures, which have been in place since November 18.

(With PTI inputs)