CAQM Clears Revised GRAP Schedule With 48 Actions for NCR

The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has approved a reworked Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) schedule for the National Capital Region. The decision was taken at the 30th meeting of the Commission's Full Commission, chaired by its Chairperson Shri Rajesh Verma, held a day before the announcement.

How the revised schedule is arranged

The rewritten schedule now carries 48 actions in all. These are distributed as 25 actions in Stage-I, 8 in Stage-II, 10 in Stage-III and 5 in Stage-IV. Repeated instructions on dust control, municipal solid waste handling and transport have been merged within Stage-I so that the same direction is not issued twice.

Measures that kick in earlier

Curbs on diesel generator sets and on the entry of buses of BS-IV standard and below from the NCR and adjoining states have been shifted from Stage-II up to Stage-I, which means they will apply sooner in a pollution episode. A small relaxation has been allowed under Stage-III, permitting the repair of potholes.

Vehicle curbs widened to Sonipat

The ban on plying BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel or older light motor vehicles now covers Sonipat as well, in addition to the high vehicular density districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar. The exemption that let older goods vehicles carrying essential commodities run during Stage-III and Stage-IV has been withdrawn, and the bar on diesel goods vehicles of BS-IV standard and below registered outside Delhi entering the capital has been spelt out under Stage-III. The citizens charter under each stage has been redrawn with fresh dos and donts.

Construction dust and enforcement

Web portal based monitoring of dust control at construction and demolition sites has been widened to projects lying outside municipal limits, in controlled areas, development and industrial areas and highway corridor zones. The plot size threshold of 500 square metres stays unchanged. The Commission also noted that two full-time Technical Members, Shri Mukesh Sharma and Shri Trilok Singh Panwar, have been cleared for appointment for three years or until they turn 70. Its Enforcement Task Force had issued closure orders to 1,831 violating units, of which 1,479 were taken up for resumption after they complied, while 126 cases went to the state pollution control boards.