Thursday, February 6th, 2025

Delhi’s air becomes clean, relaxation in restrictions of Grape-4, decision taken after instructions of Supreme Court

New Delhi: During the hearing in the case of air pollution in the capital Delhi and NCR, the Supreme Court has given permission to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to implement GRAP Stage-2 by reducing the ban imposed under GRAP Stage-4. . The Supreme Court noted that there has been an improvement in the AAQI (Air Quality Index) in the capital Delhi and after this the Supreme Court has allowed the CAQM to reduce the GEAP from Stage-4 to Stage-2.

Court gave relaxation in restrictions

The Supreme Court bench led by Justice AS Oka has also suggested that imposing some conditions according to the GRAP-3 stage can also be considered. The court said that if AQI goes above 350 then GRAP-3 stage should be implemented and if AQI goes above 400 then definitely GRAP-4 stage should be implemented.

Pollution level reduced in Delhi

Speaking before a bench led by Supreme Court Justice AS Oka, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati said that the average AQI level has been below 300. Since November 30 till now its average figures have remained below 300. After hearing the case, the Supreme Court said in its order that till November 30, the AQI level was continuously showing above 300. According to the data that follows, it has come below 300 in the last four days only. The court said that it is right that at some stage we will have to leave it to the Commission to decide on the implementation of GRAP at that stage.

‘It is not right to go till Grape-2 right now’

But given the data before us, it would not be appropriate to allow CAQM to go below Stage-2 at this time. Therefore, CAQM is allowed to move to GRAP-2 for now. If CAQM deems it appropriate to include some additional measures under Stage 3, it may consider the same. The court also clarified that if the CAQM observes that the AQI goes above 350, it should immediately implement Stage-3 measures as a precautionary measure. If AQI exceeds 400 on any day, Stage-4 measures will have to be reimposed. The court has fixed Thursday for further hearing.

‘Need for constant monitoring’

During the hearing of the case, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati told the court that according to the new AQI data, the conditions of GRAP can be relaxed. There is a clear declining trend in AQI, which is due to meteorological conditions. Aishwarya Bhati said that the measures of GRAP-4 are extremely disruptive to normal life. he/she said that considering the current situation, there is no need to implement GRAP-1. Meanwhile, Court Advisor Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh supported the appeal for relaxation in GRAP-4 but said that there is a need for constant monitoring.

During the hearing of the pollution case in the capital Delhi and NCR, the Supreme Court on Monday had refused to give relaxation in the ban imposed under GRAP-4 and then the court had said that when the AQI (Air Quality Index) The ban will be relaxed only when there is a trend of decline in the levels. Without a downward trend, discounts will not be given.

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