How 'Grave Violations' of GRAP-IV Turned Delhi into a Gas Chamber in November

Although GRAP-IV mandates a ban on pollution-causing vehicles, construction and demolition activities, the air quality barely saw any improvement in the days that followed. Why? The Quint finds answers in reports submitted to the Supreme Court.

(Image: The Quint/@Vibhushita Singh)

After being exposed to severely toxic air for 32 days, Delhi has now witnessed an improvement, with the air quality index (AQI) plunging from severe to poor category.  

This improvement – though still far from being adequate and healthy – can primarily be attributed to the weather and better wind conditions. 

Mid-November, when Delhi’s AQI surpassed the severe category, the Supreme Court intervened in the matter. As a result, stage-4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was invoked by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), which falls under the Union environment ministry.  

Although GRAP-IV mandates a ban on pollution-causing vehicles, construction and demolition activities, the air quality barely saw any improvement in the days that followed. Classes moved online, half of the government staff worked from home, and air purifiers sold like hot cakes—sales reportedly doubled in Delhi in November.  

The question is despite court-mandated stringent measures, why did Delhi’s air quality continue to deteriorate?

While hearing the matter on 28 November, the top court pointed out the “abject failure” of the authorities in implementing GRAP-IV measures and pulled up the state governments of the National Capital Region (NCR), including Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.  

The court based this observation on reports submitted by 13 Court Commissioners—Supreme Court advocates—that it had appointed to inspect if GRAP-IV measures were being carried out properly.  

The Quint accessed these reports, which highlight widespread violations in Delhi, Noida, Faridabad, Meerut and along other border points with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

In the last hearing on Monday, 2 December, the Supreme Court stated, “Very shocking things are revealed from all the four reports filed by the Court Commissioners. We find that there is complete lack of coordination among stakeholders like Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Police, and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).”

'Rampant Construction in South Delhi, Greater Noida 

Court Commissioner Manan Verma's report documented that “construction, renovation, painting, polishing, etc. was taking place at the houses of various senior officials of HUDCO, BHEL, RITES, HAL, and ITPO at Asian Games Village in New Delhi.” 

The report also noted construction work was going on at large scale in Greater Noida.

(Screenshot: Court Commissioners' Report in Supreme Court)

Meanwhile, court commissioners Jatin Kumar and Savi Nagpal reported construction work going on at the toll of Dwarka Expressway during wee hours on 30 November.   

In addition, plumes of smoke were coming out of chimney of various factories operating in Greater Noida, Verma observed. 

Court Commissioner Threatened, Told 'Getting Work Done for Senior Officer'

In the last hearing, court commissioner Manan Verma reported that he “was threatened” while he was on duty and inspecting a site where construction was taking place.  

“On 29 November, I visited Asiad Village in Khelgaon to inspect the area for GRAP violations. Construction was being carried out at a house, with a BHEL nameplate. 5-6 workers were there,” he claimed.

Verma added that as he started to take pictures, a person came out of the house and asked him who he was. When Verma informed that he was on court duty, the person told him “that he is getting the work done for a very senior officer,” Verma alleged.  

“He started intimidating me by questioning my authority to take pictures of the house and sought my ID. Thereafter, he also started threatening my presence. Without saying anything, I left the site immediately,” Verma stated in the report. 

Taking strong exception to this, the Supreme Court directed the Delhi Police to file a report on the action taken and submit it in the next hearing. It also condemned that toll officials were live- reporting the whereabouts of court commissioners on a WhatsApp group.  

“We cannot allow members of the Bar to risk their lives as the reports indicate that some of them were subjected to threats,” the Supreme Court stated and asked Delhi Police to ensure their safety.

The top court eased GRAP-IV restrictions to stage-2 on Thursday, 5 November, and stated that CAQM must revert to stage-3 and stage-4 in case Delhi's AQI worsens to 350 or 400 respectively.

'Unattended Construction Material Contributing to Dust'

While inspecting areas in South Delhi, Court Commissioner Srishti Mishra observed that unattended construction material along the roads is adding to the dust. Besides, areas dedicated by PWD for dumping construction debris (malba) are open and causing a lot of dust.  

To aggravate matters, the measures to suppress dust are inadequate.  

“There are only two water sprinklers dedicated to a large area. In those, only one driver is attached and there is no helper. In fact, that one driver is on duty 24X7, for seven days without any break,” the report stated.

(Screenshot: Court Commissioners' Report in Supreme Court)

It recommended not only increasing the number of water sprinklers but also the manpower for effective implementation.   

Verma’s report also marks locales in Greater Noida, where large heaps of dust are lying unattended and contributing to worsening air quality. 

(Screenshot: Court Commissioners' Report in Supreme Court)

'5.5 Lakh Kilogram Wood Burnt Daily in Delhi'

Mishra visited two slums—Singhi Basti (in Rangpuri) and Sapera Basti (in Mayur Vihar) — only to find that most households were still using kerosene/wood as the cooking medium as they did not have gas stoves.  

Mishra documented that there are over 2.36 lakh households living in Delhi’s 675 slum clusters, and on an average each household burns 4-5kgs wood daily.

“Even assuming that half of these households burn wood every day, a glaring amount of approximately 5 lakh and 50 thousand kilograms of wood is being burnt in NCT of Delhi daily,” Mishra recorded in the report.

She added that the Delhi government needs to provide LPG cylinders to these households.  

In addition, Verma’s report mentions large amounts of waste being burnt at Greater Noida and Gurgaon, while Manubarwala points at garbage being burnt in Burari (North Delhi) and no action being taken by the authorities. 

(Screenshot: Court Commissioners' Report in Supreme Court)

Kumar and Nagpal reported live stubble burning in Jharoda village (in south-west Delhi) and stated that police officers took no action against the miscreants.

'Trucks Defying Ban to Enter Delhi, One Crore Old Cars Plying in the City'

GRAP-IV measures ban the entry of trucks and light commercial vehicles running on diesel into Delhi, except if they are carrying essential goods (medicines, raw vegetables, fruits, grains, milk, eggs, meat, fish and ice) or are running on CNG, or are electric or meet BS-VI emissions standards.

Yet, a large number of diesel trucks entered Delhi from Delhi-Noida Direct Flyway (DND) in the absence of CCTV cameras or any personnel from Delhi Transport, a report submitted by court commissioner Mohit Siwach pointed out.

It also stated that vehicles coming from Noida to Delhi through Kalindikunj were stuck in a km-long traffic jam because of police barricading, creating more pollution in the area.  

Kumar and Nagpal found 15-20 trucks parked on the Delhi-Haryana border at Daurala area for 4-5 days. These trucks had been denied entry as they were carriers of construction material. “However, no official either from Delhi or Haryana had challaned them or removed them,” the report noted. 

Meanwhile, Mishra noted that more than one crore overaged vehicles are plying in Delhi-NCR and sought data on how many such vehicles have been impounded as these are major polluters.  

“As per CAQM data, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan have 10, 09 and 02 Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs) to get rid of old cards. Delhi has 4 Automated Vehicles Testing Facilities and shares RVSFs of neighbouring states. To curb the menace, more RVSFs need to be set up in Delhi and other NCR-states,” Mishra stated.

‘No Delhi Govt Personnel to Man Border Points’ 

“It is pertinent to mention that no official of the Transport Department, MCD or DPCC was present at Suraj Kund and Pul Pehladpur (Faridabad),” the report by court commissioners, Aditya Prasad and Pratyush Jain mentioned.  It added that no check posts/barricades or personnel were present on the Haryana side of these border points. 

Similarly, court commissioners Manisha Chava and Abhinav Aggarwal pointed out that there were “no CCTV cameras at the DND border” and “no civic volunteers or teams from Delhi Government were present.”  

Despite being a major border point between Delhi and Noida, DND did not have a single CCTV camera installed in the vicinity of the toll, the report asserted. 

It also pointed out that the U-turn at the Ghazipur checkpoint along the Delhi-Noida border is 8km away. This means a defaulting truck, which was sent back from the check post, travelled 16 km in Delhi before it could exit.

(Screenshot: Court Commissioners' Report in Supreme Court)

(Screenshot: Court Commissioners' Report in Supreme Court)

Besides, the report also mentioned that e-challan machines were working slowly because of poor connectivity, causing traffic congestion and worsening the air quality. 

Court commissioner Aditya Bharat Manubarwala recommended that vehicle inspections be conducted well before they reach the borders of Delhi NCR — for instance at Meerut. “If inspections occur only at the Delhi border, vehicles that are stopped and turned back would have already contributed significant pollution during their journey.” 

He also noted that there were long traffic snarls at border points, where checking was being done aggressively, “which ultimately caused more pollution and served no purpose.” 

'Air Pollution Can Cause More More Deaths than COVID-19'

While these violations were rampant and authorities looked away, Delhiites gasped for breath.  

According to the report submitted by court commissioner Manan Verma, inhaling Delhi’s air on 1 December was equivalent to smoking 14 cigarettes. Here are some of the studies he quoted in his report: 

When asked about the same through a question in Parliament, MoS Health Prataprao Jadhav on 29 November responded saying, “there are no conclusive data available in the country to establish direct correlation of disease exclusively due to air pollution.”  

He added that the health effects of air pollution are “synergistic manifestation of factors which include food habits, occupational habits, socioeconomic status, medical history, immunity and heredity.”