Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday said the Delhi government will begin construction of nearly 400 km of roads to curb dust once the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is lifted.

Under GRAP, a short-term emergency measure, construction activities are prohibited.

Ms. Gupta said that these roads will be constructed wall-to-wall, eliminating dust generated by road edges.

“Along with road construction, the Delhi Government is installing mist spray systems on the central verges to bring down dust particles,” the CMO said in a statement.

Ms. Gupta said that currently, around 340 mist spray systems are operational, and their coverage is being expanded in a phased manner.

As per the Delhi government, budgetary allocations for 300 km of the proposed 400 km of roads have already been released by the Central government, and the remaining 100 km of roads will be constructed using the Delhi government’s own resources.

Ms. Gupta said tenders and related procedural formalities for road construction have already been completed.

Air quality

The overall air quality index of the national capital on Tuesday improved slightly to ‘very poor’ (388) at 4 p.m., from ‘severe’ (401) recorded a day earlier.

However, at a few places, such as Anand Vihar, Chandni Chowk, Rohini, and Punjabi Bagh, the AQI was ‘severe’ at 8 p.m.

According to the official bulletin, the average AQI will again drop to ‘severe’ on Wednesday. “The air quality is likely to be in the ‘severe’ category from December 31 to January 1. The air quality is likely to be in the ‘very poor’ category on January 2,” said the Central government’s Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi.