Delhi govt bans Construction, demolition activities after Stage Ill of GRAP implementation

After the air quality of the national capital region further deteriorated on Friday, the construction and demolition activities in the entire NCR have been banned except for some categories of projects.

The Sub-Committee of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) held a meeting reviewed the air quality scenario in the region as well as the forecasts for meteorological conditions and air quality index of Delhi on Friday.

The sub-Committee observed that the air quality has deteriorated over last few hours and AQI of Delhi has been recorded as 399 on 30th December, 2022 and there is an increasing trend further in the coming days.

As the AQI in Delhi is expected to slip into ‘Severe’ category owing to calm wind and stable atmospheric conditions and is expected to deteriorate further, the Sub-Committee said that that all actions as envisaged under Stage Ill of the GRAP — ‘Severe’ Air Quality (DELHI AQI ranging between 401-450), be implemented in right earnest by all the agencies concerned, with immediate effect in the entire NCR.

However, the other actions will remain in place in under Stage I and Stage Il of the GRAP.

Along with strict ban on construction and demolition activities, the actions under the stage III of the GRAP include intensifying the frequency of mechanized or vacuum-based sweeping of roads, daily water sprinkling along with use of dust suppressants, before peak traffic hours and also intensifying the public transport services.