Delhi air pollution: GRAP-III implemented as air quality worsens to ‘severe’

As the air quality of Delhi deteriorated to the “severe” category on Saturday (December 13, 2025) morning, the the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has imposed stage 3 of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), a set of emergency measures to control air pollution.

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“The CAQM GRAP Sub-Committee today has taken the call to invoke all actions as envisaged under Stage-III of extant GRAP – ‘Severe’ Air Quality (DELHI AQI ranging between 401-450), with immediate effect, in the entire NCR. This is in addition to the actions under Stages I & II of extant GRAP already in-force in NCR,” an official statement said.

Stage 3 of GRAP includes a ban on construction and demolition activities in the entire NCR.

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Also, classes for students up to grade 5 have to be mandatorily shifted to ‘hybrid mode’ in Delhi and also in Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddh Nagar districts of the NCR.

It also includes a ban on plying of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel LMVs (four wheelers) in Delhi and also in Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar of the NCR.

Earlier in the day, a thick blanket of smog shrouded the national capital and the air quality index (AQI) stood at 397. Of the total monitoring stations in Delhi, 21 were in the ‘severe’ category with AQI readings crossing the 400-mark, data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) showed.