As Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced the rollback of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) stage III the Environment Department once again has issued directions to concerned agencies for the strict enforcement of the anti-pollution measures under GRAP-I and II.

Addressing a press conference here, the minister confirmed that the Environment Department has given fresh directions for the continuation of GRAP-I and II so that there is no lapse in its implementation leading to a situation warranting the re-imposition of GRAP-III.

Rai informed about the Commission for Air Quality Management’s (CAQM) decision to revoke the measures under GRAP-III after witnessing an improvement in the city’s air quality which showed less than 400, the threshold to implement the third stage of the anti-pollution plan.

However, the minister said the civic agencies in Delhi will continue with several pollution-control measures like the use of smog guns at hotspots along with teams in place to check open burning, checking ‘Pollution Under Control’ certificates of vehicles, sprinklers at identified roads, and others.

He said according to the weather department, if the wind speed slows down, it could result in the fluctuation of the AQI levels.

Rai said the dedicated special anti-pollution teams, especially at the 13 hotspots in the national capital, would continue to be in place to effectively implement the measures as per the anti-pollution action plans.

The minister pointed out that after Diwali, a rise in pollution was observed and the stage-III of GRAP was kept in place as a precautionary measure.

He also informed about the lifting of the ban on construction and demolition activities with the rollback of the GRAP-III. He said such projects would have to function under guidelines with anti-dust measures present at the sites. The construction sites that are more than 500 square meters will have to get themselves registered at the concerned online portals to function. “The construction project sites will have to follow the 14-point dust-control measures,” he added.

Citing present-day contributors to the pollution, Rai said with the crop-burning incidents have reduced, bio-mass burning and vehicular pollution have become key contributing factors. “The biomass-burning component is increasing, and the contribution is mostly coming from outside Delhi. A total of 611 teams have been deployed in Delhi to keep a check on the biomass burning,” he added.

The minister made an appeal to the people not to think that the pollution has now been reduced as each one of us needs to actively cooperate with the government in curbing the pollutants. He called on the people to download the Green Delhi App to report any case of open burning taking place around them.

Meanwhile, the cars banned under the GRAP-III will also be able to ply on the roads. However, the administration will strictly monitor the polluting vehicles across the city and will check the pollution certificates of the vehicles on the road and violations will attract penalties.

On Wednesday, a review meeting was held to ensure continued implementation of GRAP -I &II anti-pollution measures