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CAQM invokes GRAP Stage III across Delhi-NCR at AQI 382

By CAShorts DeskPublished Source: PIB (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change); CAQM order; The Indian Express

CAQM invokes GRAP Stage III across Delhi-NCR at AQI 382
Illustration (AI-generated)

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across the National Capital Region on 6 November 2026. Delhi's daily average AQI was 382, and forecasts pointed to 'Severe' air within days. Curbs on dusty construction, mining, stone crushers and older vehicles now add to the Stage I and II actions.

Syllabus: Prelims · Environment & Ecology; GS2 · Statutory & Regulatory Bodies; GS3 · Environment & Conservation

Why this matters for UPSC

GS3 environment: air pollution control and the bodies that enforce it. Prelims can ask GRAP's AQI bands and who invokes them; Mains, emergency curbs versus year-round action.

Why it matters

A labourer on a Noida building site loses days of wages when piling and brickwork stop, while a hospital or metro project nearby keeps going. A family in Gurugram with an old diesel car must leave it parked or find another way to work. Parents of young children can keep them home for online classes on the worst days. These curbs exist because still, cold air traps dust and exhaust close to the ground, and cutting the sources quickly is the only lever left. The larger question is whether short emergency steps can ever replace steady, year-round control of the same sources.

Prelims pointers

  • Each GRAP stage carries a citizen charter; Stage III asks people to walk or cycle short distances, combine trips and avoid coal or wood for heating.
  • GRAP stages are cumulative: invoking a higher stage keeps every action of the lower stages in force.
  • GRAP is triggered by Delhi's AQI, but its actions bind agencies across the NCR, including districts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
  • The CPCB issues the daily AQI bulletin; the CAQM's Sub-Committee on GRAP decides which stage applies, using IMD and IITM forecasts.
  • Under the CPCB's National AQI method, a station's daily AQI needs at least 16 hourly readings for each of three or more pollutants, one being PM2.5 or PM10.
  • GRAP's implementing agencies include the State Pollution Control Boards of the NCR States, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, urban local bodies and traffic police.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for the National Capital Region, consider the following statements:

1. When a higher GRAP stage is invoked, the actions of the lower stages already in force are withdrawn.

2. GRAP actions bind agencies across the NCR, including districts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

3. The Sub-Committee on GRAP can invoke a stage on forecasts before Delhi's AQI enters that stage's band.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only. GRAP stages add up and can be invoked ahead on forecasts.

Statement 1: incorrect. Stage III was invoked in addition to the Stage I and II actions already in force; stages are cumulative.

Statement 2: correct. The CAQM's GRAP order goes to the governments and agencies of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, and applies in the entire NCR.

Statement 3: correct. Stage III ('Severe', 401-450) was invoked on 6 November 2026 at an AQI of 382, because IMD and IITM forecast 'Severe' air.

Eliminate: statement 1 is false, since stages build on one another. Out: (a), (c), (d).

Trap: Reversed direction. Statement 1 turns GRAP's adding-up of stages into a replacement of one stage by the next.

Remember: GRAP stages are cumulative, forecast-led and NCR-wide.

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