New Delhi, Nov. 23 -- 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, when it started moving to stricter curbs under the initial stages. 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. In keeping with the recommendation, the Delhi government on Saturday issued an advisory asking private offices to operate with 50% on-site staff and allow the remaining staff to work from home, in line with CAQM's directions under Grap Stage-3. 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 peak-hour 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 issue of more than 200 show-cause notices and 50 closure orders for violations. "It has also been felt that mobility restrictions need to be triggered earlier to have any meaningful impact on pollution levels, especially during prolonged 'severe' spells. This is why work from home option is being stressed as it will reduce congestion and vehicular emissions," said an official, who did not wish to be named. Under the new set of recommendations, several measures that were earlier part of Grap Stage 2-which is enforced when the air quality index (AQI) is between 301 and 400-will now be enforced under Stage 1, which comes into force when the AQI is between 201 and 300. These include uninterrupted power supply to curb diesel generator use, deployment of personnel at traffic choke points, public advisories on pollution, and boosting public transport by increasing the frequency of buses and metro trains. The updated plan, which state governments have been asked to implement immediately, effectively advances stringent measures under the initial phases of response plan. Since CAQM is not an enforcing authority, states act upon its directives and pass orders to implement the Grap norms....