The Delhi government withdrew its recently issued ‘work from home’ orders on Wednesday despite lingering concerns over air pollution. The Commission for Air Quality Management also announced that it was revoking GRAP III restrictions across Delhi-NCR with immediate effect. The CAQM has indicated indicated plans to intensify the restrictions implemented under Stages I and II of the Graded Response Action Plan. The developments came even as the air quality remained ‘very poor’ across the national capital on Wednesday morning.

“The AQI of Delhi has been improving since last three days and has been recorded at 327 today. Further the forecast by IMD and IITM predicts that the AQI will remain in ‘very poor’ category in the coming days. The sub-committee has therefore decided to revoke its previous order for invoking actions under Stage III of GRAP with immediate effect,” the notice explained.

The CAQM however noted that construction and demolition projectes that had been issued closure orders would not be allowed to resume at this point. The monitoring agency asked citizens to ensure strict adherence to GRAP Stage I and II rules in order to ensure that the AQI did not worsen. Delhi and its surrounding areas have been battling poor air quality for the last few weeks.

The air quality in the national capital remained “very poor” on Wednesday morning — with an AQI reading of 335. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good” while anything ranging from 51 to 100 is considered “satisfactory”. AQI between 101 and 200 is “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.

Delhi revokes work from home order

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa had consequently announced withdrawal of the newly announced work from home measures.

“I want to inform all Delhi residents that, as per the CAQM order, the GRAP-3 restrictions in Delhi have now been lifted, and GRAP-2 is in effect in the capital. Under this, the 50% Work From Home arrangement in offices has been discontinued, and the hybrid mode currently running in schools has also been shut down. From now on, all arrangements will operate strictly according to the GRAP-2 rules,” he wrote on X alongside a video message.