GRAP Stage-III Invoked in Delhi-NCR as AQI Hits 382

Curbs under Stage-III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) are back in force across the National Capital Region. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) took the step through its Sub-Committee on GRAP, which met on 6 November 2026 and ordered the measures with immediate effect in the whole of the NCR.

Why Stage-III was called

The trigger was a reading of 382 on the Air Quality Index. That was Delhi's daily average AQI for 6 November 2026, published in the daily bulletin of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and it falls in the 'Very Poor' category. The sub-committee blamed weak dispersal of pollutants, caused by weather that did not favour clean air. Forecasts from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) added that the index could slide into the 'Severe' category over the next few days, so the panel acted before that happened.

How the stages stack

GRAP works in layers. Stage-III does not replace the earlier stages; the actions of Stage-I and Stage-II that were already running stay in place, and Stage-III measures are added on top. Agencies in charge of enforcement, among them the Pollution Control Boards of the NCR States and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), have been told to apply all three stages strictly for as long as the order holds.

What citizens are asked to do

• Walk or cycle for short distances and pick a cleaner way to commute.
• Club small errands together so that fewer trips are made.
• Put off private gatherings that add to traffic and keep people outdoors.
• Avoid burning coal or wood for warmth; house owners may give electric heaters to guards and other staff so that biomass, wood or municipal solid waste is not burnt in the open.
• Move primary classes to hybrid mode and work from home when told to do so.

What happens next

The Commission says it is watching air quality closely and will review the situation regularly in the days ahead. The full GRAP order is posted on CAQM's official website. For exam purposes, note the body that decides (the CAQM Sub-Committee on GRAP), the reading that triggered it (AQI 382, Very Poor), the agency whose bulletin gave the figure (CPCB) and the rule that each higher stage adds to the ones below it.