Centre empowers the Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority- EPCA to to enforce the Graded Response Action Plan to tackle air pollution in Delhi-NCR. Now if the air pollution stays above the emergency level for 48-hours, the odd-even scheme may be enforced and construction halted in the national capital. <br/><br/>The ambitious plan, first of its kind in India, also envisages the roll out of a host of other emergency measures including closure of schools, power plants and advisories asking people to avoid polluted areas and restrict outdoor<br/><br/>movement.Terming air pollution in Delhi and NCR as a matter of serious concern, which requires urgent action, the Environment Ministry in its notification on 12th of this month assigned the task to implement the plan to EPCA under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. <br/><br/>Director General of Centre for Science and Environment and also a member of EPCA, Sunita Narain termed it as a very big step in pollution management and said there was no need to balk at the level of action the plan lays out. <br/><br/>She said the first effort of the graded action plan is to prevent emergency. <br/><br/>The action plan had received the nod of SC on 2nd December last year, details measures to be enforced based on the intensity of pollution ranging from severe plus or emergency to moderate-poor.