Delhi Air gets 'Severe Plus' Alert - Realtors to stop the Construction Works

With effect from November 18, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) implemented more stringent pollution control measures for the Delhi-NCR as part of Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan, or GRAP.

The migration, according to real estate specialists, is a seasonal occurrence and has been taken into account in their backup plans.

Stage 4 of the Delhi government's Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) went into effect on November 18 at 8 a.m. The declining quality of Delhi's air prompted the CAQM to issue the directive.

Developers stated that in order to comply with the GRAP 4 requirements on construction activities, the real estate community will work with government agencies.

The CAQM ruling prohibited C&D activities for linear public projects including roads, highways, flyovers, over bridges, power transmission, pipelines, telecommunication, etc., same like in GRAP Stage-III.

“This is a temporary phase and the developer community is prepared to meet the challenges. This occurs every year and developers have now started including this phase, when there is a momentary halt to construction work, as part of their contingency plans. I don’t see any major impact on the real estate sector and I hope the situation will not last beyond a month,” says Pradeep Kumar Aggarwal, Founder and Chairman, Signatureglobal (India).

Prashant Thakur, Director & Head – Research, ANAROCK Group says, “However, this is not really the case. Pollution spiking in Delhi-NCR happens largely during the onset of winter, which coincides with agricultural stubble burning in nearby states. A perennial ‘high alert’ throughout the year would have more serious implications on real estate, but it is a seasonal phenomenon. With periods of respite, cities are quite adaptable”.