A CREA analysis finds no consistent improvement in Delhi's winter air quality over four years despite the Graded Response Action Plan.

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• The Commission for Air Quality Management invoked Stage I of the Graded Response Action Plan in Delhi-NCR as Delhi's air turned "poor".
• Research body CREA found no consistent improvement in Delhi's winter air quality over four years despite GRAP.
• The MoEFCC notified GRAP in 2017, following Supreme Court directions for graded measures based on air quality levels.
• The CAQM Act of 2021 made the Commission a statutory body replacing EPCA, which was set up in 1998 under Supreme Court directions in the M.C. Mehta case.
• Stage I applies when the AQI is poor (201-300), Stage II when very poor (301-400), Stage III when severe (401-450) and Stage IV above 450.
• Stage I measures focus on enforcing existing norms, including no diesel generator sets as a regular power source.
• A Delhi government notification of June 2026 bars non-Delhi-registered vehicles below BS-VI from 1 November to 31 January, with EVs, CNG and emergency vehicles exempt.
• The same notification doubles parking charges from 1 November to 28 February irrespective of AQI, with GRAP prevailing in case of conflict.
• Winter pollution is worsened by temperature inversion that traps pollutants across the Indo-Gangetic Plain, along with stubble burning, dust, vehicles and firecrackers.
• Critics say GRAP is an emergency, short-term tool and argue for airshed-level planning and year-round action instead.