AS DELHI GASPS, PRIMARY SCHOOLS TO BE SHUT
CAPITAL TURNS GAS CHAMBER
NEW DELHI: There will be no classes till Class 5 on Wednesday in Delhi schools, and there will be no assembly or outdoor activities for older students, the government has announced a choking blanket of smog covered the world’s most polluted capital city on Tuesday, impelling a top medical body to declare a “public health emergency”.
“I would also request people to avoid morning walks. The situation is close to a severe crisis,” said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Earlier, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had tweeted that schools should be closed for a few days. “Every year, during this time of the year, Delhi becomes a gas chamber for almost a month,” Kejriwal said in tweets, calling for a solution.
The Indian Medical Association has called for an annual half marathon on November 19 to be cancelled to protect runners and volunteers from high levels of harmful particulate matter.
The IMA declaration came as the US embassy website said levels of the fine pollutants known as PM2.5 that are most harmful to health reached 703 — well over double the threshold of 300 that authorities class as hazardous.
“We have declared a state of public health emergency in Delhi since pollution is at an alarming level,” the head of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Krishan Kumar Aggarwal said. “Delhi authorities have to make every possible effort to curb this menace.”
The US embassy’s website said that levels of the fine pollutants known as PM2.5 that are most harmful to health reached 703 -well over double the threshold of 300 that is classed as hazardous. It stood at 999 for the RK Puram area, beyond which no readings are available.
Delhi woke up to ‘severe’ air quality on Tuesday under a blanket of thick haze, as pollution levels breached the permissible standards by multiple times.
The rapid fall in air quality and visibility began Monday evening itself as moisture combined with pollutants shrouded the city in a thick cover of haze.
By 10 am on Tuesday, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recorded ‘severe’ air quality, meaning the intensity of pollution was extreme.
In light of the sudden dip, measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) such as a four times hike in parking fees may be rolled out by the Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority.
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GURUGRAM: The announcement by the Delhi Government to close all its primary schools has provided as a slight reprieve to large number of children in Gurugram also. Large number of students from Gurugram still prefers schools in Delhi for their education.
Long distance travel and longer duration of exposure however make the health of these children extremely vulnerable. While the parents of these children admit that it is a challenge for them to send their kids to Delhi, lack of choices and compulsion leave them with fewer options.
Taking cognisance of the deteriorating air, the Deputy Commissioner office of Gurugram has ordered that the timings of the school will be changed to 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. Some school management in Gurugram are however mulling the decisions to close the school for few days.
Already strict guidelines have been passed in most of the school in the city to not allow any outdoor activities for children.
Already worsening, the air quality levels reached hazardous levels with particulate matter of 2.5 microns reaching the levels of 270-300 micrograms per cubic metre way above than the safe limit of 60.
Other poisonous concentrations like sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide were also at extremely unhealthy levels.
Owing to the weather conditions, the concentration of all these poisonous substances is highest in the morning, the time when most of the school children have to go to their schools.
Besides hazardous levels of pollution, thick layer of smog also enveloped the city which reduced the visibility to less than 50 metres that further caused trouble for city residents.