The Supreme Court today, Thursday, November 28 refused to ease the emergency measures under Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to combat air pollution in Delhi, further ordering the restrictions to remain in place until December 2.
As per ANI, the GRAP Stage IV measures, excluding those related to schools, will remain in effect until Monday, December 2. During this period, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has been instructed to convene a meeting and provide recommendations on transitioning from GRAP IV to GRAP III or GRAP II.
Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih noted that a second report by court commissioners highlighted a "failure" by authorities in properly enforcing the GRAP IV measures.
"We make it clear that all GRAP IV measures except the measures which are modified in respect of the schools will continue to operate till Monday. In the meantime, the Commission for Air Quality Management will hold a meeting and come out with the suggestion about moving from GRAP IV to GRAP III or GRAP II. We also make it clear that it is not necessary that all measures which are provided in GRAP IV should be dispensed with," the bench said.
They further added that action against officials for a "serious lapse" in enforcing the GRAP-IV curbs, needs to be expedited.
Introduced in 2017, the GRAP is a series of anti-air pollution measures implemented in the capital and its surrounding areas to address the severity of the situation.
