CAQM Approves Revised GRAP Schedule; Tightens Measures for Vehicles, Dust and Pollution Control

1. At a Glance

• The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) approved a revised Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Schedule at its 30th Full Commission meeting on 28.09.2026 [1].
• GRAP is an emergency response mechanism triggered by Delhi's AQI level. It brings multiple stakeholders and implementing agencies together to respond when air quality in Delhi-NCR gets worse [4].
• The revision tightens vehicle curbs: Sonipat is added to the LMV restrictions, and the exemption for BS-IV-and-below goods vehicles carrying essential commodities is removed. It also consolidates the schedule into 48 actions across 4 stages [1].
• For UPSC this links to GS-III (environmental pollution), GS-II (statutory bodies, cooperative federalism) and Prelims questions on CAQM Act, 2021, BS norms and AQI categories [1][2][3].

2. Why in the News

• 29 Sep 2026: PIB (MoEFCC) announced the outcome of CAQM's 30th Full Commission meeting, chaired by Shri Rajesh Verma, Chairperson, CAQM [1].
• The GRAP Schedule was revised just before the winter pollution season. The meeting also approved an amendment to C&D dust Direction Nos. 11-18 (dated 11.06.2021). It noted Advisory No. 18 (10.09.2026) on sports events, two Technical Member appointments, Enforcement Task Force (ETF) statistics and plantation progress [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• 1998: The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) was set up for the NCR. It was dissolved by the CAQM Bill, 2021 [3].
• 2017: GRAP was notified by MoEFCC, as agreed by the Supreme Court, to control PM10/PM2.5 emissions in Delhi-NCR [4].
• Oct 2020: The CAQM Ordinance was promulgated. It lapsed in March 2021 and was re-promulgated in April 2021 [3].
• 13 Apr 2021: The CAQM Act, 2021 is deemed to have come into force [2].
• 11.06.2021: CAQM issued Direction Nos. 11-18 on dust control at C&D sites, including web-portal registration [1].
• 30 Jul 2021: The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha. It was passed by the LS on 4 Aug 2021 and the RS on 5 Aug 2021 [3].
• 2023: CAQM announced a revision of GRAP to strengthen measures against sudden or anticipated deterioration in winter [9].
• 2024: GRAP was revised again. CAQM also relaxed certain Stage-III/IV restrictions in compliance with Supreme Court directives [10][11].
• 28 Sep 2026: The current revised schedule was approved with 48 actions [1].
• How the stage action counts changed (from PIB invocation notices):

4. Core Static Facts

Key changes in the revised GRAP Schedule [1]:

• Repeated actions on dust, MSW management and transport in Stage-I are merged.
• Actions on DG sets and on entry of BS-IV-and-below buses from NCR and adjoining states move from Stage-II to Stage-I, so they apply earlier.
• Minor relaxation under Action No. 1 of Stage-III, including pothole repair.
• Curbs on BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel LMVs (4-wheelers) are extended to Sonipat.
• The essential-commodities exemption is removed for BS-IV-and-below goods vehicles: LGVs and MGVs in Stage-III, trucks/HGVs in Stage-IV.
• Stage-III now explicitly restricts entry into Delhi of diesel BS-IV-and-below LGVs and MGVs registered outside Delhi.
• The Citizens' Charter (Do's and Don'ts) is expanded under each stage.

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Environmental

• The revision front-loads preventive action. Moving DG-set and bus-entry curbs to Stage-I means they apply before AQI reaches "Very Poor" [1].
• Road and construction dust is targeted through the Stage-I consolidation and by extending C&D portal monitoring beyond municipal limits [1].
• Greening: 4,13,68,929 plantations achieved against a target of 4,60,54,740 (2026-27, as on 22.09.2026) [1].

Economic

• Removing the essential-commodities exemption means older freight vehicles are affected in Stage-III/IV. This could push logistics firms to upgrade to BS-VI, CNG or EV fleets [1].
• Extending C&D monitoring to industrial areas and highway corridor zones raises compliance costs for peri-urban projects [1].
• ETF enforcement: 1,831 closure orders issued, and 1,479 units resumed after complying (as on 17.09.2026) [1].

Administrative / Federal

• CAQM coordinates Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and UP. It works as a single inter-state body, replacing the earlier fragmented arrangement under EPCA [2][3].
• State performance on plantations is uneven. Haryana (NCR) reached only 60,00,000 against 1,20,00,000 (50%). UP, Rajasthan and Delhi exceeded their targets [1].
• 126 cases were transferred to SPCBs/DPCC, showing that CAQM depends on state regulators for enforcement [1].

Legal / Constitutional

• CAQM directions are legally binding under the 2021 Act, with criminal penalties. Farmers are carved out, a politically negotiated exclusion [2][3].
• The Supreme Court continues to oversee the process: GRAP was notified with its agreement in 2017, and relaxations in 2024 followed its directives [4][11].

Social / Health

• Advisory No. 18 asks that physical sports competitions in November-December be rescheduled to protect students' health [1].
• The expanded Citizens' Charter aims at behavioural change through public participation [1].

Technological / Governance

• Web-portal-based registration and monitoring of C&D dust control is extended to controlled areas, development areas, industrial areas and highway corridor zones [1].

6. Recent Developments (last 12-18 months)

• 2025 winter season: CAQM invoked a 12-point Stage-II [7], a 9-point Stage-III [8], Stage-III for "Severe" AQI 401-450 [5], and a 5-point Stage-IV for "Severe+" AQI >450 [6].
• 10.09.2026: Advisory No. 18 on rescheduling physical sports competitions in NCR during Nov-Dec [1].
• 11.08.2026 to 17.09.2026: The ETF continued examining non-compliance and resumption applications [1].
• 22.09.2026: Plantation status: Delhi 62,00,527 (target 58,01,386); UP-NCR 1,85,59,812 (target 1,71,44,900); Rajasthan-NCR 1,16,13,092 (target 1,07,09,754); Haryana-NCR 60,00,000 (target 1,20,00,000) [1].
• 28.09.2026: The 30th Full Commission meeting approved the revised GRAP (48 actions), amended Directions 11-18, and noted the ACC approval of two Technical Members [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• CAQM was set up under the CAQM in NCR and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021, not under the Air Act, 1981 [2].
• The CAQM Act is deemed in force from 13 April 2021 [2].
• "Adjoining areas" = parts of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh [2].
• CAQM replaced EPCA, which was set up in 1998 [3].
• Appeals against CAQM orders lie with the NGT [3].
• Penalty: up to 5 years' jail and/or a ₹1 crore fine. Farmers are exempt, but may pay environmental compensation for stubble burning [2][3].
• CAQM includes technical members from CPCB, ISRO and NITI Aayog [2].
• GRAP was first notified by MoEFCC in 2017, as agreed by the Supreme Court [4].
• The revised GRAP (Sep 2026) has 48 actions: 25 / 8 / 10 / 5 across Stages I-IV [1].
• GRAP Stage-III = "Severe" (AQI 401-450). Stage-IV = "Severe+" (AQI >450) [5][6].
• Sonipat was added to the BS-III petrol / BS-IV diesel LMV curbs, alongside Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar [1].
• The C&D dust-monitoring web-portal threshold is a plot area of ≥500 sq m, under Direction Nos. 11-18 of 11.06.2021 [1].
• CAQM Technical Members are appointed with ACC approval, for 3 years or until age 70 [1].
• DG sets and BS-IV-and-below bus entry actions moved from Stage-II to Stage-I [1].

8. Why GRAP Still Acts After the Air Has Turned Bad

• The trigger is the problem, not the list of actions
• GRAP starts only when Delhi's AQI (Air Quality Index, a single number for how polluted the air is) crosses a set level [4].
• So every stage begins after people are already breathing bad air.

• Moving DG-set and bus curbs to Stage-I helps them start earlier. But Stage-I still waits for an AQI reading [1].

• Much of the pollution is made in the sky, far away

• The World Bank says over half of India's PM2.5 (very fine dust particles that enter the lungs) is secondary. It forms in the air when gases like ammonia, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides mix [14].
• These gases travel hundreds of kilometres across state borders [14].

• Stopping a truck or a construction site in Gurugram on a bad day cannot quickly undo pollution that formed days earlier, far away.

• What this means for the exam

• GRAP is an emergency brake. It is not a plan to clean the air. The year-round work sits with other programmes such as NCAP [16].
• A good answer says the 2026 revision makes the brake work sooner. It does not turn GRAP into a prevention plan.

9. CAQM's Map Stops Where the Smoke Does Not

• The law covers NCR plus four states. The airshed is much bigger
• An airshed is the whole area whose air mixes together, whatever the state borders.
• CAQM's area is NCR plus nearby parts of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and UP [2].
• The World Bank's Indo-Gangetic Plains airshed also includes Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chandigarh [14].

• Pollution from these states can reach Delhi. But CAQM cannot give them binding directions.

• Parliament's committee has said the same thing

• In December 2025, the Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change asked for planning and enforcement at the airshed level, not the state level [15].
• The 2026 revision changes actions inside the old borders only. Sonipat, for example, is still an NCR district [1].

10. GRAP Aims at Sources Nobody Has Measured Lately

• We do not know today's exact share of each source
• Source apportionment is a study that tells us what share of pollution comes from vehicles, dust, industry, stubble burning and so on.
• The 2025 Standing Committee found Delhi's source apportionment studies are old. They may not reflect how the economy has changed since [15].
• Yet the 2026 revision makes big choices about which sources to hit hardest: old goods vehicles, dust and DG sets [1].

• Without fresh numbers, nobody can show that these are the right targets or how much AQI will fall.

• The monitoring network has gaps

• Delhi-NCR has 84 continuous monitoring stations (they record data all the time) and 59 manual ones [15].
• The committee found gaps in where stations are placed, and asked for all manual stations to be made continuous [15].

• GRAP stages depend on AQI readings. If the readings are weak, the trigger is weak too.

• The standard itself is soft

• India's NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards, the legal limits for clean air) were last revised in 2009. They are weaker than WHO guidelines, especially for PM2.5 [15].

• So even a 'Good' AQI day under Indian rules can be unsafe by WHO standards.

• The release counts work done, not air cleaned

• It reports 1,831 closure orders and crores of saplings planted [1].
• It gives no figure on how much any earlier GRAP stage lowered AQI. Changing action counts (12 to 8 in Stage-II) also make years hard to compare [1][7].

11. Are Stage-III and IV Bans Worth What They Cost the Poor?

• The strongest case against
• Bans on construction and old vehicles stop work overnight. Daily-wage workers and small truck owners lose income, but the bans last only a few days of bad air.
• The Supreme Court itself directed CAQM to relax some Stage-III and IV curbs in 2024 [11].
• The 2018 Standing Committee (chaired by Anand Sharma) preferred strict enforcement of construction rules over outright bans, to protect workers' livelihoods [16].

• Now the essential-commodities exemption is gone. Older goods vehicles carrying food or medicines can also be stopped [1]. Small transporters with old trucks will be hit first.

• The honest answer

• The cost of doing nothing is larger. Air pollution cost India US$36.8 billion in 2019, about 1.36% of GDP, mostly through early deaths [14].
• But the critics are right on one point. The cost of a ban falls on a few poor groups, while the benefit is spread across everyone.

• The revision itself accepts this in a small way: it allows pothole repair under Stage-III [1]. It offers nothing to workers who lose wages during a ban.

• Take-away for Mains

• Do not write 'bans are bad' or 'bans are good'. Write that bans are needed in emergencies. But the people who lose wages need support, and year-round enforcement should make bans less frequent.

12. Why Directions Weaken on the Way to the Ground

• CAQM gives the orders. States carry them out
• CAQM passed 126 cases to state pollution boards (SPCBs/DPCC) for action [1]. What happens next depends on those state boards.
• The 2018 committee found weak enforcement by Haryana, Punjab and UP on crop burning. It also called state action on road dust 'insufficient' [16].
• Seven years later, the 2025 committee still had to ask for clear naming of which agency implements each GRAP action, plus inspections and penalties [15].

• The same problem was named twice, seven years apart. That shows the gap is in how the system is built, not a one-time slip.

• Haryana is a sign of this gap

• Haryana-NCR met only half its plantation target, while other states went past theirs [1].
• Haryana also holds four of the five districts under the LMV curbs, including new Sonipat [1]. So the new vehicle rules depend most on the state that is furthest behind.

13. What Should Follow, and Who Should Do It

• MoEFCC and CPCB should commission fresh source apportionment studies
• The 2025 Standing Committee asked for new studies and a system to update them regularly [15].

• CAQM could then show which GRAP actions cut the most pollution, and drop the ones that do not.

• MoEFCC should revise the 2009 NAAQS towards WHO levels

• The committee flagged the old standard as too weak for PM2.5 [15].

• The Centre should plan by airshed, not by state border

• The committee recommended airshed-level planning and enforcement [15].
• The World Bank is already funding this kind of work: US$300 million in Haryana, including electric buses, and US$299.66 million in Uttar Pradesh, including clean cooking for 3.9 million households [14].

• CAQM's reach, or a linked body, could be extended over the wider Indo-Gangetic Plains.

• Governments should cut the need for bans, not only enforce them

• The 2025 committee asked for faster removal of end-of-life diesel vehicles, more electric and CNG public transport, and money incentives for cleaner vehicles [15].

• Helping transporters move to cleaner trucks would reduce the hardship when the essential-commodities exemption is gone [1].

• CAQM should publish results, not only activity

• After each winter, it could report how AQI changed after each stage was invoked. That would let the public judge whether the 48 actions work.

14. Anchors for Answers

• Data: Air pollution cost India US$36.8 billion in 2019, about 1.36% of GDP [14]
• Data: Over half of India's PM2.5 is secondary, formed from gases that travel hundreds of km across states [14]
• Data: Delhi-NCR has 84 continuous and 59 manual air-quality monitoring stations [15]
• Report/Committee: Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, report on air pollution in Delhi-NCR, 12 Dec 2025: airshed-level planning, fresh source apportionment, NAAQS revision [15]
• Report/Committee: Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests (Chair: Anand Sharma), 2018: weak state enforcement on crop burning and road dust; enforce construction rules rather than ban outright [16]
• Law/Case: CAQM in NCR and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021 (Act No. 29 of 2021) [2]; Supreme Court-directed relaxation of Stage-III/IV curbs, 2024 [11]
• Comparison: World Bank Indo-Gangetic Plains airshed programme: funds cross-state action in UP (US$299.66 million) and Haryana (US$300 million) [14]
• Scheme: National Clean Air Programme (NCAP): the year-round, nationwide plan that GRAP's short emergency measures cannot replace [16]

15. Mains Relevance

• GS-III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
• GS-II: Statutory, regulatory and quasi-judicial bodies; government policies and interventions; inter-state coordination.
• Possible questions: 1. "GRAP has moved from a reactive emergency tool to a front-loaded preventive framework." Critically examine this in light of the 2026 revisions. 2. Evaluate the effectiveness of CAQM as a statutory inter-state body in tackling NCR air pollution. What institutional gaps remain? 3. Vehicular and dust emissions need structural rather than episodic remedies. Discuss with reference to the NCR experience.

16. Related Topics to Study Next

• National Clean Air Programme (NCAP): the national-level framework that complements the NCR-specific GRAP.
• National AQI and its 6 categories: GRAP stages are defined by AQI bands.
• Bharat Stage (BS) emission norms and the leap to BS-VI: the basis of the vehicle curbs.
• Stubble burning and ex-situ/in-situ crop residue management: the reason CAQM's jurisdiction covers adjoining states.
• Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the CPCB/SPCBs: the parallel regulators that CAQM transfers cases to.
• Construction & Demolition Waste Management Rules: linked to Direction Nos. 11-18.
• NGT and the M.C. Mehta vs UoI litigation: judicial oversight of NCR air quality.

17. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• CAQM vs EPCA vs CPCB: CAQM (2021 Act) replaced EPCA (1998). It did not replace CPCB [3].
• Legal basis: CAQM comes from a 2021 Act of Parliament, preceded by Ordinances in 2020 and 2021. It is not an executive order or an Air Act body [2][3].
• Adjoining states: the list is Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP. Aspirants wrongly add Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand [2].
• Action counts change often: 12→8 in Stage-II, 9→10 in Stage-III, 8→5 in Stage-IV. Always use the latest schedule (48 total) [1][6][7][8].
• Farmers are exempt from the penal provision, but not from environmental compensation [3].