CAQM releases stricter Grap rules in Delhi-NCR

NEW DELHI: The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in Delhi-NCR on Saturday revised its set of guidelines under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) weeks after the Supreme Court pointed out the lapses in the scheme.

- HT Correspondent

CAQM directed states to update rules and implement stricter restrictions in order to tackle air quality during peak pollution season, with measures like hybrid classes for schools and revised parking fees to discourage private transportation.

Delhi and its surrounding regions are engulfed in an annual spectre of air pollution around winter when a toxic cocktail of smoke from paddy fields in Punjab and Haryana, mix with local pollutants and the dropping temperature pushing the region into an air emergency. Grap is implemented as a precautionary measure with four stages which gets stricter as pollution rises.

"The revised schedule is in compliance of the Supreme Court orders. The court had asked the CAQM to incorporate additional measures in stage two, which were previously in the third stage. The revised schedule has taken that into consideration," a CAQM official said.

According to the revised guidelines, under stage 2, entry of inter-state buses is prohibited, except electric vehicles and those running on CNG or BS-VI diesel. This restriction was previously under stage 3.