Restrictions On All Petrol, Diesel Cars Removed As Delhi Air Improves

The Centre on Tuesday ordered the revocation of restrictions under Stage III of GRAP in the entire NCR with immediate effect, following improvement in air quality.

The move paves the way for the removal of restrictions on the operation of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel four-wheelers in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar. The Delhi government's Transport Department is likely to issue an order on it.

The Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM), a statutory body responsible for formulating strategies to combat pollution in the region, met on Tuesday in view of the significant improvement in the overall air quality of Delhi-NCR.

The air quality forecasts by the India Meteorological Department/Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology do not indicate the average air quality of Delhi to move to the "severe" category in the coming days for which forecast is available, the CAQM said.

The city's 24-hour average AQI, recorded at 4 pm every day, improved from 395 on Monday to 312 on Tuesday.

"Keeping in view the disruptive nature of restrictions under Stage-III of GRAP impacting a large number of stakeholders and public as well as considering the significant improvement in the average AQI of Delhi-NCR, the GRAP Sub-Committee unanimously decided to revoke Stage-III of GRAP in the entire NCR with immediate effect," it said.

Actions under Stages-I to Stage-II of GRAP shall however remain invoked and "be implemented, intensified, monitored and reviewed by all agencies concerned in NCR to ensure that the AQI levels do not slip further to the 'Severe' category, the CAQM said.

Construction and demolition project sites and industrial units which have been issued specific closure orders on account of violations or non-compliance of various statutory directions, rules, and guidelines under no circumstances shall resume their operations without any specific order to this effect from the commission, it said.

The panel had on November 18 revoked curbs prescribed under Stage IV of the Centre's air pollution control plan in Delhi-NCR after air quality improved.

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