Delhi pollution: GRAP Stage III invoked; hybrid classes up to Class 5

9 November 2026 · English Environment & Ecology

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Topics: Environment · UPSC Prelims · TNPSC · SSC · Current Affairs

Current affairs of 9 November 2026 (Shanmugam IAS Academy) – explained for UPSC, TNPSC and other competitive exams

News

As air quality worsened in Delhi–National Capital Region (NCR), the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) with immediate effect on 6 November 2026. The CAQM order put Delhi's AQI at 382 ('very poor') that day; CPCB data showed 364 on the morning of 7 November. The step was taken in advance because IITM Pune forecast that the AQI would enter the 'severe' range (above 401) in the coming days. Following this, Delhi's Directorate of Education ordered government, aided and recognised private schools, as well as MCD, NDMC and Delhi Cantonment Board schools, to run classes up to Class 5 in 'hybrid' mode from 7 November. Students may attend in person or, where facilities exist and parents choose, join online – classes were not shifted fully online. Dust-raising construction and demolition was banned, and BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers were restricted in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar. Delhi and NCR State governments may decide on running offices with 50% staff in person. CAQM blamed unfavourable weather that stopped pollutants from dispersing.

Key facts for the exam

Background

• CAQM: set up by an ordinance in October 2020, it became a permanent statutory body under the 'Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021'. Its jurisdiction covers Delhi and the adjoining areas of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. When it was formed, the EPCA (Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority), which had worked under Supreme Court directions since 1998, was dissolved.
• GRAP: an emergency action plan notified in 2017 following Supreme Court orders and now enforced by CAQM. Four stages: I – Poor (AQI 201–300), II – Very Poor (301–400), III – Severe (401–450), IV – Severe+ (above 450). Stages can be invoked in advance on the basis of forecasts; this time Stage III came in at an AQI of 382.
• Science and geography: in winter, a 'temperature inversion' – warm air lying over cold, dense air near the ground – stops pollutants from rising. Low wind speed, post-harvest stubble burning in Punjab–Haryana, vehicle exhaust, construction dust and Delhi's landlocked position in the Indo-Gangetic plain add to the problem. PM2.5 particles, smaller than 2.5 micrometres, reach deep into the lungs.
• Constitution: the 69th Amendment (1991) inserted Article 239AA, making Delhi the 'National Capital Territory' (NCT) with a legislature and council of ministers (on the Balakrishnan Committee's advice); public order, police and land remain with the Centre. The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched in 2019 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; it covers over 130 cities that do not meet national air-quality standards.

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Sources: Business Today; Outlook India; Lok Sabha reply on NCAP cities; CAQM. Compiled by Shanmugam IAS Academy.

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