New Delhi, Nov 22 (LatestNewsX) – As Delhi‑NCR’s air quality worsened, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) announced stricter measures, moving several steps of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP‑IV) down into the GRAP‑III bracket.
An official from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change confirmed that the revised plan now urges both government and private offices to operate at half the normal strength, with the remaining staff working from home.
The CAQM’s Sub‑Committee on GRAP met with stakeholders on Friday to discuss the changes. Key updates include shifting the 50% work‑from‑home rule, currently coded as GRAP‑IV, into the GRAP‑III framework.
According to the official statement, “The NCR state governments/GNCTD to take a decision on allowing public, municipal and private offices to work on 50 per cent strength and the rest to work from home.” The same release added, “The Central Government may take appropriate decision on permitting work from home for employees in Central Government offices.”
The advisory pushes the Delhi government and other NCR states to consider a work‑from‑home policy for half their workforce – a measure that was already employed when AQI values climbed above 450.
The proposal arrives just after the Delhi administration announced staggered working hours for government offices under GRAP‑III; those hours have now been moved to GRAP‑II for AQI levels between 301 and 400.
Other changes move certain advisories and transport support that once fell under GRAP‑II into GRAP‑I, covering AQI ranges of 201 to 300.
Delhi’s Environment Minister, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, took the floor on Friday to declare that the Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s Dust Mitigation Guidelines for road‑cutting will be enforced more rigorously.
The ministry also said it is stepping up dust‑control measures at road‑cutting sites under its Winter Action Plan. “Mitigating dust pollution at the source is essential to tackle rising levels of PM2.5 and protect public health,” Sirsa emphasized.
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