Delhi advises 50% WFH as pollution curbs get tighter

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in Delhi-NCR has further tightened its curbs under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) to curb air pollution, continuing an exercise that started last Wednesday. As part of this, the recommendation for states to impose 50% work-from-home for all government and private offices has been moved from Stage 4 of Grap to Stage 3, according to a notification issued on November 21.

- Snehil Sinha

In keeping with the recommendation, the Delhi government on Saturday issued an advisory asking private offices to operate with 50% onsite staff and allow the remaining staff to work from home. Environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the government is implementing all pollution-control measures with full seriousness and round-the-clock monitoring. The city has also enforced staggered timings for MCD and GNCTD offices to curb traffic emissions.

Stage 3 of Grap has been in force in Delhi since November 11. Officials said over 1,200 inspections of construction sites and industrial units have been carried out, leading to more than 200 show-cause notices and 50 closure orders for violations.