delhi-s-air-quality-improves-grap-4-curbs-lifted

With Delhi’s air quality improving marginally from ‘very poor’ to ‘poor’ category, the Centre’s panel on Delhi-NCR’s air quality revoked curbs under stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), although Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the Delhi government will continue its ‘No PUC, No fuel’ policy for vehicles.

“The Sub-Committee, accordingly, decides to revoke with immediate effect its orders dated 13.12.2025, for invoking actions under Stage-IV (’Severe+’ Air Quality >450) of modified schedule of GRAP,” the order by the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) read.

Actions under Stage-I, II & III of the extant GRAP shall, however, remain invoked and be implemented, it added. Stage 4 curbs include a ban on all construction activities, entry of non-essential polluting trucks into Delhi, and mandatory shifting of school classes, except for classes 10 and 12, to hybrid mode.

On Thursday morning, the capital city’s air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 220, with 29 monitoring stations recording air quality in the ‘poor’ category, as per the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) Sameer app. However, Anand Vihar recorded AQI in the ‘very poor’ category at 308, while the remaining stations were in the ‘moderate’ range.

 

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Favourable meteorological conditions, particularly surface wind speeds of 15 to 25 kilometers per hour, helped improve air quality in the capital, the CPCB said.

As per the CPCB classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.

The 24-hour average AQI in the capital stood in the ‘poor’ category on Wednesday as well, a marked a sharp improvement from Tuesday, when the AQI had deteriorated to 412 in the ‘severe’ category at 4 pm, the CPCB data showed.

However, forecast says the relief may be short-lived, with air quality likely to worsen again in the coming days.

On the weather front, Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 6.5 degrees Celsius, one notch below normal, and a relative humidity of 63 per cent, according to the India Meteorological Department.

The expected maximum temperature is 22 degrees Celsius and a moderate is forecast.