CAQM Revokes Stage-I of GRAP Across NCR with Immediate Effect as Delhi AQI Improves

📌 Summary:

• CAQM (Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas) Sub-Committee on GRAP revoked all Stage-I actions across the entire NCR with immediate effect
• Trigger: Delhi's daily average AQI improved sharply from 207 (28.05.2026) to 123 (29.05.2026); IMD/IITM forecast AQI to remain in "Moderate" category in coming days
• GRAP Stage-I had been invoked on 19.05.2026 when Delhi AQI showed an increasing trend
• Improvement caused by strong winds + light rain (favourable meteorological dispersion)
• All NCR state agencies and Government of NCT of Delhi instructed to continue strict enforcement of CAQM directions, MoEFCC rules, CPCB and respective State Pollution Control Board guidelines to prevent slipping back into "Poor"
• Sub-Committee will continue close monitoring; decisions based on actual AQI + IMD/IITM forecasts

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 — Environment (urban air pollution governance); shows how rule-based, data-triggered policy frameworks (GRAP) replace ad-hoc responses; institutional layering — CAQM (statutory), MoEFCC, CPCB, State PCBs, DPCC.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• CAQM = Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas; statutory body created by CAQM Act, 2021 (replaced EPCA)
• GRAP = Graded Response Action Plan; first notified in 2017, revised structure
• GRAP Stages: I (Poor, AQI 201–300), II (Very Poor, 301–400), III (Severe, 401–450), IV (Severe Plus, >450)
• AQI categories (CPCB): Good (0–50), Satisfactory (51–100), Moderate (101–200), Poor (201–300), Very Poor (301–400), Severe (401–500)
• AQI of 123 = Moderate; AQI of 207 = Poor
• IMD/IITM provide air quality forecasting; CPCB measures AQI

🔑 Key Term: GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan) — a tiered set of pollution-control measures (e.g., construction bans, vehicle restrictions, school closures) that are automatically triggered or revoked as Delhi-NCR AQI moves across pre-defined thresholds.