The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has approved a revised Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for Delhi-NCR. The decision was taken at the Commission's 30th full meeting on September 28, 2026, chaired by CAQM Chairperson Rajesh Verma, and was announced by the Ministry of Environment through PIB on September 29.
GRAP is the set of anti-pollution steps that is switched on in stages as air quality worsens - Stage I for "poor" air and up to Stage IV for "severe plus". The revised schedule comes just before the winter months, when Delhi's air quality usually deteriorates.
What has changed
According to the CAQM release, the revised GRAP schedule:
- Merges repeated actions on dust control, municipal solid waste and transport in Stage I.
- Moves two actions from Stage II to Stage I - those on diesel generator (DG) sets and on the entry of BS-IV and older buses from NCR and neighbouring states. These curbs can therefore apply earlier, at the "poor" level.
- Allows a minor relaxation in Stage III under its first action, including the repair of potholes.
- Extends restrictions on BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel (or older) four-wheelers to Sonipat, in addition to Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar.
- Removes the exemption for older goods vehicles carrying essential commodities. BS-IV and older light and medium goods vehicles in Stage III, and trucks and heavy goods vehicles in Stage IV, will no longer be exempt just because they carry essential goods.
- Clearly lists, under Stage III, the restriction on diesel BS-IV and older light and medium goods vehicles registered outside Delhi from entering Delhi.
- Updates the Citizens' Charter for each stage with more do's and don'ts for the public.
After the changes, GRAP has 48 actions in all: 25 in Stage I, 8 in Stage II, 10 in Stage III and 5 in Stage IV.
What it means for you
- Car owners in Sonipat with BS-III petrol or BS-IV diesel four-wheelers should expect the same restrictions as in Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Noida when the relevant GRAP stage is invoked.
- Transporters and traders using BS-IV or older goods vehicles for essential supplies can no longer rely on the essential-goods exemption in Stages III and IV. They may need BS-VI, CNG or electric vehicles on those days.
- Housing societies, shops and offices that run diesel generator sets should note that the DG set action now sits in Stage I.
- The restrictions apply only when CAQM invokes a stage, based on the air quality index. Watch CAQM's orders for the dates each stage comes into force.
Other decisions at the meeting
- Construction dust monitoring widened: web-portal registration and monitoring of dust control at construction and demolition sites will now also cover eligible projects beyond municipal limits, such as industrial areas and highway corridor zones. The existing threshold of plots of 500 square metres or more is unchanged.
- Sports events: the Commission noted its advisory of September 10, 2026 asking that physical sports competitions in NCR during November and December be rescheduled, keeping students' health in mind.
- Enforcement: as of September 17, 2026, closure orders had been issued to 1,831 violating units, of which 1,479 had been considered for resumption after compliance.
- Plantations: against a 2026-27 target of about 4.61 crore plantations in Delhi-NCR, about 4.14 crore had been achieved by September 22. Delhi, Uttar Pradesh (NCR) and Rajasthan (NCR) crossed their targets, while Haryana (NCR) had reached 60 lakh against a target of 1.2 crore.
- New members: two full-time technical members, Mukesh Sharma and Trilok Singh Panwar, have been appointed to CAQM.
