The Supreme Court today questioned the Delhi government over its delay in implementing stricter anti-pollution measures under Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The court stressed that any scaling down of these preventive measures cannot occur without its prior approval.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Augustine George Masih highlighted the delay in invoking Stage 4 measures, even after the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital reached hazardous levels. The bench emphasized that Stage 4 of GRAP should be implemented immediately when the AQI crosses the 300-400 threshold.

Yesterday, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) announced stricter pollution control actions for Delhi-NCR under GRAP-4. Effective from 8 a.m. today, the measures include a ban on truck entry into the city and a temporary suspension of construction activities at public project sites.