India, Oct. 19 -- The Centre's panel on Delhi-NCR's air quality on Sunday announced imposing restrictions under GRAP 2 in the national capital a day ahead of Diwali.

"The AQI of Delhi has shown an increasing trend since morning and has been recorded as 296 at 4:00 PM and 302 at 7:00 PM. The forecast by IMD/IITM also predicts further deterioration of AQI in coming days," the Commission for Air Quality Management said in a statement.

"The Sub-Committee, accordingly decides to invoke all actions under Stage-II ('Very Poor' Air Quality) of the extant GRAP in the entire NCR, with immediate effect, in addition to the Stage-I actions already in force," the central agency's statement added.

The GRAP 2 restrictions come as the national capital ...