PTI
The Centre’s pollution control panel issued directions on Thursday to halt non-essential construction work, stone crushing and mining in Delhi-NCR as the air quality in the capital entered the ‘severe’ category.
This action is part of Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) — the Centre’s air pollution control plan implemented in the region during the winter season. Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 402 at 5 pm.
At a meeting to review the air quality situation in Delhi-NCR, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a statutory body responsible for developing strategies to combat pollution in the region, said that pollution levels are only “expected to increase further” due to highly unfavourable meteorological and climatic conditions.
