New Delhi: As the air quality has gotten worse over the past 24 hours, the government has banned building and demolition work in the National Capital Region (NCR). The average air quality index for the city today was 399, which is just two tiers below the severe category.
The NCR’s stage-3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was activated by the subcommittee of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in response to a severe worsening in air quality. The decision was made today after the Sub-Committee thoroughly examined the local air quality situation. Stage-I and Stage-II of the GRAP have already been implemented in the area based on prior decisions of the Sub-Committee on GRAP.
Stage III prohibits building and demolish, however it exempts projects pertaining to rail services and operations, metro projects, airport projects, projects pertaining to national security or defence, projects of national importance, and projects pertaining to health care facilities.