No more tandoori nights in Delhi! Govt bans coal-fired tandoors in restaurants under GRAP IV

With Delhi's air quality sliding deeper into the severe zone, the city's pollution crackdown reached an unlikely but familiar fixture of its food culture, the tandoor. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has ordered a blanket ban on coal- and firewood-based tandoors across hotels, restaurants and open eateries, tightening restrictions as pollution levels remain alarmingly high.

The directive comes as Delhi’s Air Quality Index hovers around 400 at key pollution hotspots, such as Anand Vihar and ITO, at 10 am on Tuesday. The ban, issued last week, applies to all commercial food establishments using traditional tandoors fuelled by coal or firewood.

According to a PTI report dated December 9, the order was issued under Section 31(A) of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. Under the directions, all restaurants and eateries have been asked to immediately switch to electric, gas-based or other clean-fuel cooking appliances.

The move follows the implementation of Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR, which was enforced last Saturday as air quality deteriorated further.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) stated that its GRAP sub-committee has decided to implement all measures under Stage IV, also referred to as the “severe+” category, with immediate effect, following the crossing of critical pollution thresholds.

Under GRAP IV restrictions, any open burning of biomass, waste or similar materials, which can include coal, is strictly prohibited. The ban on traditional tandoors aligns with these curbs, as authorities seek to clamp down on all identifiable sources contributing to hazardous air conditions.

Delhi sees slight AQI improvement

A slight shift in wind brought brief relief to Delhi and the National Capital Region on Tuesday, thinning the dense fog that had choked visibility and pushed air pollution into the severe zone. But while conditions improved on the ground, flight disruptions continued to ripple through the city’s main airport.

Delhi and the NCR saw marginal improvement in air quality and visibility as north-westerly surface winds scattered the fog that had prevailed a day earlier. Even so, the Delhi airport cautioned that flight disruptions were likely to continue, though operations were “steadily recovering”.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) on Tuesday eased to ‘very poor’ at 381, a day after touching the ‘severe’ category. Improved wind flow reduced fog intensity during the morning hours, resulting in clearer conditions across parts of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, and Gurugram. Despite the improvement, around eight monitoring stations across the city continued to record “severe” air quality.