The Commission for Air Quality Management on Wednesday withdrew the stringent Stage 3 restrictions of the GRAP in Delhi-NCR. The decision came when the city’s air quality remained firmly in the ‘very poor’ category, marking 21st day in a row that the Air Quality Index exceeded the 300 mark.
This will allow construction work and older diesel vehicles – BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel light motor vehicles – back on to the roads. The revocation was announced notwithstanding air quality forecasts predicting AQI would continue to hover in the ‘very poor’ range in the coming days as well.
Questionable Timing and Expert Criticism
Add Zee News as a Preferred Source
At the time of the announcement, Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI was 327-according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s 4 PM bulletin-a marginal improvement from previous days but still classified as a level that causes respiratory discomfort.
The sub-committee of CAQM justified this decision by citing marginal improvement over the last three days and the recent implementation of its newly revised, more stringent GRAP framework announced on November 21.
However, the move drew sharp criticism from air pollution experts:
“There is not much difference between AQI 320 or AQI 350. We cannot normalise slightly lower values and this decision feels illogical,” said Mukesh Khare, an air pollution expert from IIT Delhi.
Khare further said that lifting Stage 3 measures in those crucial months of November, December, and January was “too early and too quickly” when there was no significant improvement or rain. Environmental activist Vimlendu Jha said the CAQM should be “dismantled” as many monitoring stations continued to record severe air quality.
Key Curbs Lifted and Public Impact
In fact, the lifting of Stage 3 constraints will have an immediate and significant impact on daily life and economic activity across the National Capital Region.
Construction & Vehicles: The ban on non-essential private construction/demolition and the restriction on plying BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel LMVs are lifted.
Offices & Schools: The offices were put under a temporary mandate to operate on 50% work-from-home capacity and schools to operate in hybrid mode.
The office work-from-home rule, announced as recently as three days ago by the Delhi government, was part of the revised GRAP brought in by the CAQM, which advanced emergency measures to lower pollution thresholds to try and be more “proactive”—something the Supreme Court had also suggested.
Supreme Court and Data Reliability Concerns
The decision of CAQM underlines the growing tension between scientific data, demands about public health, and administrative action. Just last week, the Supreme Court had encouraged the commission to take more “proactive action” in making pollution control measures stringent.
Citizen demand: The East Delhi Federation of Residents Welfare Associations Joint Front had, earlier on Wednesday, demanded even stricter Stages 5 and 6 of GRAP, proposing temporary market closures and free public transport.
Data Integrity: The effectiveness of the controls has been undermined by persistent questions about the reliability of Delhi’s air monitoring network, with reports of station data missing during critical, polluted hours this season. Even after lifting the restrictions, CAQM directed all implementing agencies to strictly maintain and intensify actions under Stage 1 and Stage 2 to prevent the deterioration of air quality back into the ‘severe’ category.
ALSO READ | Women Warriors Take Command At 14,000 Feet: India Deploys Female Troops Along China Border
