The Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM) issued an order on Monday (24 March), invoking Stage-I of the Graded Response on Action Plan (GRAP-I) in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). This came after Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) slipped from 194 (moderate) on 23 March to 206 (poor) on Monday (24 March).

Accordingly, the following restrictions/directives are in effect:

• Restriction on open waste burning.
• Limit (but not outright ban) on the usage of diesel generators.
• Monitoring of emissions from industries, power plants and brick kilns.
• Ban on use of coal/firewood in restaurants.
• Inspections of vehicles, and action against vehicles without pollution certificates and vehicles older than 10/15 year operational lifespan.
• Additional measures include improved traffic management, water sprinkling on roads and awareness initiatives for citizens.
• The official order can be availed at: https://caqm.nic.in/WriteReadData/LINKS/Order%20dt%2024032025940b278d-5e1d-41c6-8ace-bb3f4066b44b.pdf.