News Mania Desk / Piyal Chatterjee / 15th November 2024
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi declared Thursday that primary schools in the nation’s capital would transition to online learning due to deteriorating air quality. “Due to rising pollution levels, all primary schools in Delhi will be shifting to online classes, until further directions,” the chief minister said in a post on X.
The declaration was made only hours after the Delhi government declared that the third phase of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which aims to lower air pollution, will start on Friday morning. The GRAP Stage III limits prohibit the use of BS-lll gasoline and BS-IV diesel light motor vehicles, as well as building and demolition activities.
GRAP for the National Capital Region (NCR) is classified under four different stages of adverse air quality in Delhi: Stage I — ‘poor’ (AQI 201-300); Stage II — ‘very poor’ (AQI 301-400); Stage III — ‘severe’ (AQI 401-450); and Stage IV — ‘severe plus’ (AQI >450).
On Thursday, the capital’s air quality stayed in the “severe” category for the second day in a row. The air quality in Delhi reached’severe’ for the first time this season on Wednesday, making it the worst in the nation.Gopal Rai, the environment minister for Delhi, earlier today blamed the deteriorating air quality on a combination of cool temperatures and quiet breezes that kept the pollutants trapped in the atmosphere.
During a press conference, Rai stated that the weather pattern had changed during the previous two days. In order to help lower the city’s pollution levels, he noted, wind speeds are predicted to increase between Friday and Saturday. “…It is predicted that there will be a decrease in the level of pollution due to rising temperatures… Overall, there is a chance that the level of pollution which was increased, will get decreased,” Rai was quoted as saying
