Graded Response Action Plan

Geography glossary

Also called: GRAP · Topic: Geographical Issues: Pollution, Urban Waste, Slums and Land Degradation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is an emergency plan for the whole National Capital Region (NCR). Its anti-pollution steps get stricter, stage by stage, as Delhi's air quality gets worse. There are four stages, from Stage I (Poor) to Stage IV (Severe+).

  • Why it matters: Delhi-NCR has some of the worst winter smog in India. GRAP is the main short-term tool used to deal with it.
  • Who runs it: Since 2021 it has been run and revised by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a body set up by law. GRAP is in the news every winter and was made stricter in November 2025 [1].

Explanation

How GRAP works: trigger → stage → action

  • Trigger. A stage is switched on using Delhi's average AQI together with weather forecasts [1].
  • AQI (Air Quality Index) turns readings of several pollutants into one number and one colour, so people can understand it easily.

  • Because forecasts are used, action can start before the air gets worse, not only after [1].

  • Graded (step-by-step) response. Each higher stage adds new curbs. The steps of the lower stages also stay in force.

  • Result. Measures switch on fast during a smog episode, so nobody has to wait for a new order each time.

The four stages

Stage AQI category Delhi AQI range [1] Typical measures
I Poor 201–300 Dust control at construction sites, mechanised road sweeping, water spraying, ban on open waste burning
II Very Poor 301–400 Limits on diesel generator (DG) sets, higher parking fees to discourage private cars, more buses and metro trips
III Severe 401–450 Ban on non-essential construction and demolition; limits on older petrol (BS-III) and diesel (BS-IV) vehicles; stone crushers and mining closed
IV Severe+ >450 Trucks barred from entering Delhi (except those carrying essential goods or running on clean fuel), ban even on public construction projects, possible work-from-home and online schools

Why Delhi-NCR needs an emergency plan

  • Winter temperature inversion (a layer of warm air sitting on top of cooler air near the ground, the reverse of normal):
  • Long, clear winter nights make the ground lose heat fast, so the air near the ground becomes cold and heavy.
  • The warm layer above acts like a lid, so smoke and dust cannot rise.

  • The mixing height (how high pollutants can spread upward) falls sharply, so smog builds up near the ground.

  • Calm winds and stubble smoke. After the monsoon withdraws, winds are weak. The north-westerly winds carry smoke from stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana (October–November) towards Delhi.

  • Local sources. Construction dust, road dust, vehicles, diesel generator sets and waste burning. GRAP targets these one by one.

Changes over time

  • 2017: First notified by the MoEFCC after Supreme Court orders. At first it was enforced by EPCA (Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority).
  • 2021 onwards: CAQM runs and revises it.
  • Revisions in 2023 and 2024, then a stricter one in November 2025 [1].
  • Measures moved down one stage: Stage IV → III, III → II, and II → I.
  • So the same steps now start at a lower AQI than in the table above [1].

Where it occurs

  • Area: The whole National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR). Stages are triggered by Delhi's average AQI [1].
  • Who runs it: CAQM, set up under the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021.
  • CAQM covers Delhi-NCR plus Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. This includes the farm areas where stubble is burnt.

  • CAQM's orders override those of state pollution control boards on air-quality matters in this region.

  • Wider setting: Delhi lies in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). This is a landlocked basin between the Himalaya to the north and the Vindhya–peninsular uplands to the south, and polluted air gets trapped inside it.

  • Year: First notified in 2017. Latest stricter revision in November 2025 [1].

Don't confuse with

  • National Clean Air Programme (NCAP): a long-term, nationwide plan (MoEFCC, January 2019) with city action plans for non-attainment cities. GRAP is a short-term emergency plan for NCR only.
  • National Air Quality Index (AQI, 2015): this only measures and reports air quality. GRAP is the action plan that the AQI switches on.
  • CAQM vs EPCA: EPCA (1998) was set up on Supreme Court orders and first enforced GRAP. CAQM was set up by an Act of Parliament (2021), replaced EPCA and now runs GRAP.
  • NAAQS (2009): the legal limits for 12 pollutants, notified by CPCB. NAAQS sets the standard, while GRAP sets emergency curbs when air quality crosses AQI levels.

Prelims Hooks

  • GRAP stages in order: I Poor (201–300) → II Very Poor (301–400) → III Severe (401–450) → IV Severe+ (>450) [1].
  • Stage IV starts when Delhi's AQI is above 450. Stage III covers 401–450 [1].
  • GRAP was first notified in 2017 by MoEFCC after Supreme Court orders. It was first enforced by EPCA and is now run by CAQM.
  • Stages are triggered by average AQI plus weather forecasts, not AQI alone. So action can be taken in advance [1].
  • November 2025 revision: measures were shifted one stage lower (IV → III, III → II, II → I), which makes GRAP stricter [1].
  • Trap: The area covered by CAQM includes Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and UP. It does not include Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand.

Mains Points

  • Geography makes GRAP necessary (GS-I / GS-III):
  • Delhi sits in the landlocked IGP basin.
  • Winter temperature inversion, a low mixing height and calm post-monsoon winds trap pollutants near the ground.

  • Stubble smoke from Punjab and Haryana adds to this, so a fast, stage-wise emergency response is needed.

  • Place in India's layered clean-air system: standards (NAAQS 2009) → public information (AQI 2015) → long-term city plans (NCAP 2019) → emergency action (GRAP) → a statutory regional body (CAQM 2021). Using forecasts lets GRAP act before peaks [1].

  • Limits and way forward:
  • GRAP is reactive. It controls smog episodes but does not remove their causes, which is why it has been tightened again and again (2023, 2024, November 2025) [1].
  • Pollution crosses state borders. This calls for airshed-level planning across the IGP (an airshed is a region that shares the same body of air).
  • Stubble burning must be solved at its source, through crop diversification and ex-situ use of crop residue (removing the stubble and using it elsewhere).

Related concepts

Read more

Sources

  1. 1PIB, CAQM revises GRAP schedule, making it more stringent (November 2025); see also andpib.gov.in · tier 1