New Delhi: Every year, as winter begins, Delhi and its surrounding areas face thick layers of smog. The air becomes hard to breathe, and pollution levels rise quickly. To deal with this, the government follows a special system called the Graded Response Action Plan, better known as GRAP.
GRAP is like a rulebook that guides each department on what actions to take when air quality deteriorates. It was created under the direction of the Supreme Court and is implemented by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). The plan helps all four governments — Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan — act together when pollution increases.
Why GRAP was made
In the past, every agency worked on its own to control pollution in NCR. There was no clear order of action. GRAP was made so that everyone — from traffic police to city corporations — knows exactly what to do and when to do it. The plan divides air pollution into four stages based on the Air Quality Index (AQI):
Stage I – Poor (AQI 201–300)
Stage II – Very Poor (301–400)
Stage III – Severe (401–450)
Stage IV – Severe+ (above 450)
On 14 October 2025, Delhi’s air quality reached an AQI of 211, which falls in the “Poor” category. The CAQM held a review meeting and decided to enforce Stage I of GRAP across the entire National Capital Region. The order went out to all four state governments and their pollution control boards, asking them to take immediate action so that the air quality does not get worse.
What happens during Stage I
The first stage mainly focuses on dust and smoke control. Construction and demolition sites must follow strict dust-control rules. Machines that suck up or sprinkle water on roads are used more frequently. Burning of garbage, leaves, or crop residue is completely banned.
Industries are allowed to use only clean fuels — coal and firewood are not permitted. Diesel generator sets can be used only in emergencies. The traffic police and transport departments start checking vehicles more strictly to ensure they have valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates.
People are also advised to use public transport, share rides, and avoid unnecessary travel during high-pollution days.
What changes in the higher stages
If the air quality keeps worsening, the restrictions become stricter. Under Stage II, the same work continues, but inspections and clean-up drives become more intense.
By the time Stage III is declared, almost all construction and demolition activities — such as earthwork, road digging, or loading dusty materials — are stopped, except for essential projects like hospitals, metro work, or railway lines.
If the air turns “Severe+,” Stage IV comes into force. This is when tough restrictions are imposed — heavy vehicles may be stopped from entering Delhi, old diesel vehicles are taken off the roads, schools may shift to online classes, and offices are encouraged to allow work-from-home.
Who carries out GRAP
To make sure that GRAP runs smoothly, the CAQM has formed a GRAP Monitoring Control Room. This is like the main control centre that keeps an eye on what’s happening across Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
Every state sends updates on what actions have been taken — for example, how many sprinklers and sweepers are being used, or how many sites have been checked. The control room collects this data every day and helps CAQM decide whether to keep the same stage or move to a higher one.
The responsibility to carry out GRAP lies with hundreds of agencies — pollution control boards, local bodies like the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and Noida Authority, road departments, traffic police, power utilities, and district administrations. This coordination ensures that all cities in NCR act together instead of waiting for one another.
How many machines are in action
Under GRAP, the main goal is to remove dust and control smoke. For this, different cities have deployed machines like mechanical road sweepers, water sprinklers, and anti-smog guns.
In Delhi, the Municipal Corporation operates around 50 large road-sweeping machines that clean the main roads daily. There are also about 140 water-sprinkling vehicles in use, and the government has plans to add many more — about 250 new sprinklers with anti-smog guns and 70 additional sweepers. Some areas, such as Dwarka, even have poles fitted with automatic misting systems that spray fine water droplets to settle the dust.
In Noida and Greater Noida, the civic bodies are using about 12 road sweepers, 70 sprinklers, and 60 small anti-smog guns. Recently, 10 new truck-mounted anti-smog guns have also been bought to cover more areas. In Ghaziabad, around 10 vehicles with attached anti-smog guns are being used every day.
In Gurugram, the city corporation has added four new truck-mounted anti-smog guns and runs several road-sweeping machines across main city roads. The nearby town of Faridabad follows a similar practice.
On the Rajasthan side, in Alwar and Bharatpur, local bodies have started using sprinklers and sweepers and have set up four new air-quality monitoring stations, although no fixed numbers for machines have been released.
All together, across the NCR region, there are roughly 70–80 sweepers, over 200 sprinklers, and nearly 100 anti-smog guns being used or kept ready for action. The exact count changes from day to day as more machines are hired or shifted between cities.
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What research says about pollution control
A research study by environmental scientist Dr. Gaurav Gulia and colleagues (2021) looked at how policies like GRAP have worked in Delhi–NCR. The study found that while GRAP has helped organise emergency action, the air quality problem is far more complex.
They noted that road dust alone contributes to nearly 20–30 per cent of Delhi’s PM10 pollution, and vehicular emissions are another 20–25 per cent. The rest comes from industries, open burning, and regional sources like crop residue fires in Punjab and Haryana. The researchers also said that the implementation of the rule is often weak. Many actions, such as mechanical sweeping or fuel switching, are done only when the air turns bad instead of being followed all year round.
The study suggested that long-term improvements depend on better public transport, stricter vehicle-emission standards, cleaner fuels, and moving industries out of residential areas. It also recommended that data from all agencies should be shared openly and that people should be made more aware of their role in controlling local pollution.
GRAP is not a miracle cure. It cannot stop pollution completely, but it helps reduce its worst effects. Actions like water sprinkling, dust control, and temporary bans make a visible difference during peak smog days. The air may not become clean overnight, but it prevents the situation from turning into a public health emergency.
However, the main causes of pollution — such as stubble burning, road dust, heavy traffic, and industrial smoke — need long-term solutions. GRAP only handles emergencies. The real improvement will come when cleaner fuels, better waste systems, and stronger transport policies are in place.
Right now, Stage I of GRAP is in force across Delhi–NCR. If pollution continues to rise, tougher measures will be brought in. For now, authorities are focusing on road dust, open burning, and vehicle emissions — the three biggest sources of winter pollution.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)