BackDelhi pollution: Schools to remain shut from tomorrow till further orders
Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Delhi government for opening schools amid the rising air pollution levelsRai said, the Delhi government had decided to reopen schools as it was forecasted that air quality would improve
PremiumAll schools in Delhi will remain suspended from tomorrow till further orders, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said today after Supreme Court pulled up the Delhi government for resuming physical classes amid the rising air pollution levels. Rai said, the Delhi government had decided to reopen schools as it was forecasted that air quality would improve.
Due the air crisis, schools in the national capital remained shut for over 2 weeks since November 13. Physical classes in schools, colleges and other educational institutions had resumed from Monday, November 29.
Regarding the decision to reopen schools, the SC asked Delhi government today, "When the government implemented work from home for adults then why children are being forced to go to school."
"We feel there is nothing happening, in spite of air pollution levels rising in Delhi," the Court observed.
Later Rai said, “We had reopened schools considering the forecast that air quality would improve. However, the air pollution levels have increased again and we have decided to shut schools from Friday till further orders."
The Apex Court on Thursday expressed concern on rising air pollution in Delhi-NCR and granted 24 hours deadline to the Centre and Delhi government to come up with a serious plan for implementation of pollution control measures.
Air quality slips to “severe" category
Delhi's air quality has again deteriorated on Thursday and settled in the “severe" category with the AQI clocking at 419 in the morning. According to Ministry of Earth Science's air quality monitor ‘SAFAR’, the air quality is likely to improve from Friday onwards due to better wind speed.
“From December 3 onwards, winds are expected to increase dispersing pollutants but the AQI is likely to remain in the 'very poor' category. Low mixing layer height is preventing efficient dispersion of pollutants," SAFAR said in its advisory.
On Wednesday the city's 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) read 370. It was 328 on Tuesday.
Neighbouring NCR towns Faridabad (441) and Noida (404) also witnessed severe air quality on Thursday morning. However, the AQI in Ghaziabad (359), Greater Noida (381), Gurugram (361) was in the “very poor" category.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".
(With inputs from agencies)
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