GRAP to be Enforced in Delhi-NCR

• 15 Oct 2018

Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) will implement an emergency action plan in Delhi to tackle rising air pollution.

• The emergency plan is called the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
• Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEFCC) after the order of Supreme Court of December 2016.
• GRAP includes the measures which will be taken by different government agencies to prevent worsening of Air Quality of Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region) and prevent PM10 and PM2.5 levels to go beyond ‘moderate’ national Air Quality Index (AQI) category.
• The EPCA is mandated to enforce the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the city as per the pollution levels.

Types of measures under Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP):

• Measures to be taken are divided into different categories based on the Pollution level:

Category	Ambient Particulate Matter (PM) Concentration	Measures
Moderate to Poor	PM 2.5 between 61-120 µg/m3  PM10 between 101-350 µg/m3	Enforce pollution control in thermal power plants Mechanized sweeping on roads Ban on firecrackers Stop garbage burning
Very Poor	PM2.5 between 121-250µg/m3  PM10 between 351-430 µg/m3	Stop use of diesel generator sets Increase bus and metro services and increasing frequency of metro service Stop use of coal/firewood in hotels and open eateries
Severe	PM2.5 more than 250µg/m3  PM10 more than 430µg/m3	Increase frequency of mechanized sweeping of road and sprinkling of water on roads Close brick kilns, Hot Mix plants, Stone Crushers Shut down Badarpur power plant Introduce concessional rates to encourage off-peak travel in public transport.
Severe+ or Emergency	PM2.5 of or more than 300µg/m3 PM10 of or 500µg/m3  (persist for 48 hours or more)	Stop entry of diesel trucks into Delhi (except essential commodities) Stop construction activities Introduce odd and even scheme Shutting of schools

National Air Quality Index (AQI)

• National Air Quality Index (AQI) is under the aegis of the CPCB.
• AQI has been developed to inform people about the level of eight pollutants— PM2.5, PM10, Ammonia, Lead, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, ozone, and carbon monoxide.