The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has revised the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for the entire NCR. Under the revised GRAP, certain targeted actions that were earlier under Stages III and IV have now been incorporated into Stages II and III. Actions under Stage II deal with ‘Very Poor’ Air Quality, with Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) ranging between 301 and 400. Stage III deals with ‘Severe’ Air Quality, with AQI between 401 and 450. Stage IV deals with ‘Severe+’ Air Quality, with AQI above 450.

The air quality in the national capital, Delhi, showed slight improvement with an average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 194 in the moderate category, as of 8 PM this evening. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, some areas of the city have breached the 250 AQI level into the very poor category. The AQI at Delhi’s Bawana was recorded at 273, Anand Vihar at 229, Wazirpur at 231, Punjabi Bagh at 221, Patparganj at 180, Okhla Phase-2 at 172, and Dilshad Garden at 142. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that Delhi and the surrounding NCR are likely to experience smog and shallow fog during the night and morning hours over the next two days.