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Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is a mechanism to decide the actions that governments in Delhi-NCR must take as the levels of air pollution rise through various stages. The idea of GRAP is to put certain steps or restrictions in place as soon as air pollution reaches a specific level, instead of waiting for the air to become worse.
The GRAP framework was approved by the Supreme Court in 2016, and its implementation has since been overseen by the CAQM. The watchdog’s suggestion to the Supreme Court on November 19 was part of a new set of interventions it was required to present before the court.
There are four stages in GRAP, each linked to the Air Quality Index (AQI) at the time.
# The first stage, or Stage I of GRAP, kicks in when the air turns “poor” (AQI of 201-300, which causes breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure).
# Stage II kicks in when the air quality worsens to “very poor” (AQI of 301-400, which can cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure).
# Stage III is reached during “severe” pollution (AQI of 401-500, during which healthy people are affected and those with existing diseases are seriously impacted).
# Stage IV of GRAP is reached when conditions enter the “severe+” range (AQI of more than 500).
India’s national AQI system has been developed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which classifies air quality based on the ways in which health can be impacted at various pollution levels, ranging from minor discomfort to serious respiratory and cardiovascular risks.
A set of measures is prescribed for governments to implement at each stage of GRAP. When a higher stage of GRAP is triggered, the actions from the earlier stages remain in place. Therefore, GRAP functions as a step-by-step escalation of measures as pollution worsens, aiming to slow down the increase in pollution levels, and to prevent pollution from reaching the most harmful levels.
At present, GRAP III is effective in the Capital, as the levels of air pollution have moved between ‘severe’ and ‘very poor’ levels. A set of restrictions that correspond to this stage of GRAP are in place.
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