Delhi Pollution: Schools To Remain Close For A Week, Construction Activities Ban For 3 Days

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister has announced the closure of the school, colleges and educational institution for a week.

The decision came after the Kejriwal called an emergency meeting on Saturday to tackle severe air pollution in the city, where Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Environment Minister Gopal Rai, Health Minister Satyendar Jain and Delhi Chief Secretary were also present in the meeting.

Also, the construction work in Delhi will be completely closed from 14 to 17. Apart from this, government offices will also remain closed for a week.

After a meeting with the officials regarding the rising pollution level in Delhi, CM Kejriwal said, an advisory will be issued in the private sector that more and more people should be given work from home.

Kejriwal further asserted that this decision in the interest of the children. However, the online classes can be conducted during this period.

Stressing that important measures need to be taken in this regard, the Supreme Court (SC) termed the situation as an "emergency". The country's apex court also took note of the opening of schools in Delhi and had asked the authorities to immediately take measures such as reducing the number of vehicles and lockdown in Delhi.

The court asked the Centre and the Delhi government to take immediate steps to reduce pollution and submit a report on Monday in this regard.

According to a study by IIT Delhi's Centre of Excellence for Research on Clean Air (CERCA) on Friday, the schools and colleges are more prone to indoor air pollution because they do not have proper ventilation.

The report states that the levels of PM10 and PM2.5 particles in schools and colleges are much higher than the World Health Organization (WHO).

Reportedly, the Air Quality Index (AQI) at Lodhi Road, University of Delhi, IIT Delhi, Pusa Road and Delhi Airport stood at 489, 466, 474, 480 and 504 respectively. The AQI in Noida and Gurugram was recorded at 587 and 557 respectively.

AQI between zero and 50 is 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor' and 401 Between 500 and 500 are considered 'severe'.

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