Ban on non-essential construction work lifted in Delhi-NCR

NEW DELHI: With air pollution in Delhi-NCR ameliorating, the Centre’s air quality panel on
Wednesday directed authorities to lift the curbs imposed in Delhi-NCR under stage III of the
Graded Response Action Plan, including a ban on non-essential construction and demolition
work.
Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 343 at 4 pm, improving from 385 on
Tuesday. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401
and 500 ‘severe’.
“The forecast by the India Meteorological Department and the Indian Institute of Tropical
Meteorology does not suggest that the AQI would slip into the “severe” category in the coming
days,” the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said in an order.
“It is therefore, felt that it is advisable to relax the stringent restrictions and roll back Stage-III of
the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) with immediate effect in the entire national capital
region (NCR),” the order read.