The Commission for Air Quality Management announced Stage 1 of the Graded Response Action Plan in Delhi-NCR on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Officials said the air quality fell into the poor category after the AQI reached 244. Many emergency measures started to help control rising pollution levels in the city.
As the air quality in Delhi worsened to the ‘poor’ category, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the NCR and adjoining areas announced Stage 1 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on Wednesday (October 21, 2026).
GRAP is a set of short-term emergency measures aimed at reducing air pollution and is divided into four stages, depending on the level of air pollution that exists at a particular time or is predicted for the near future.
“The Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi, which was observed to be 179 (moderate category) on October 20, has exhibited a sharp rise with an AQI of 244 at 2 pm on October 21 (poor category),” said the CAQM in a statement.
It added that the forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology had predicted AQI to remain in the ‘poor’ category in the coming days.
The first stage, GRAP-1, kicks in when the AQI is between 201 and 300; the second stage, GRAP-2, is enforced when the AQI is between 301 and 400; GRAP-3 kicks in between 401 and 500; and GRAP-4 is invoked when the AQI is more than 450.