The Commission for Air Quality Management on Thursday imposed Stage I measures under the Graded Response Action Plan in the National Capital Region after air quality slipped into the “poor” category.

GRAP is a set of incremental anti-pollution measures that are triggered to prevent further worsening of air quality once it reaches a certain threshold in the Delhi-NCR region.

The first stage involves measures such as mechanical sweeping of roads and sprinkling water on them to keep dust from rising. It also bans some kinds of construction and demolition activities.

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As of 9.05 am on Friday, the average Air Quality Index in Delhi was 241, which is in the “poor” category, according to data from the Sameer application.

In Uttar Pradesh, Noida reported an AQI of 275, Greater Noida 322 and Ghaziabad 329, showed the application, which provides hourly updates from the Central Pollution Control Board.

In Haryana, Gurugram logged an AQI of 243, placing it in the “poor” category, while Faridabad recorded a figure of 178.

On Thursday, the average AQI in Delhi stood at 226, which is also in the “poor” category.

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An index value between 0 and 50 indicates “good” air quality, between 51 and 100 indicates “satisfactory” air quality and between 101 and 200 indicates “moderate” air quality. As the index value increases further, air quality deteriorates. A value of 201 and 300 means “poor” air quality, while between 301 and 400 indicates “very poor” air.

Between 401 and 450 indicates “severe” air pollution, while anything above the 450 threshold is termed “severe plus”.

Stage 1 of GRAP is activated when the AQI is in the “poor” category. The second, third and fourth stages are activated when the AQI crosses the “very poor”, “severe” category and “severe plus” category.

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