Toxic haze thickens in Capital, schools to be closed until Sunday

NEW DELHI: The toxic haze hanging over Delhi on Wednesday thickened, leading to near zero visibility at many places, even as air quality slid further and touched calamitous levels. Wednesday was the most polluted day of this year which lead the Delhi government to announce that all the city schools will remain closed till Sunday.

“Due to the deteriorating air quality in Delhi, the health of children cannot be compromised. We have ordered the closure of all the schools in Delhi until Sunday,” tweeted Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia.

The air quality index of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had a score of 487 on a scale of 500, indicating ‘severe’ levels of pollution, which can affect even healthy people and “seriously impact” those with existing diseases.

If the score touches 500 and persists there for at least 48 hours, measures like odd-even and a ban on construction and demolition activities will come into force across the Delhi- NCR under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

But confusion prevailed over the measures announced by the Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) including lowering metro fares during off-peak hours and hiking parking rates by up to four times.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) said they were on course to augment their services regarding increasing frequency but remained non-committal on slashing fares temporarily.

The civic bodies are yet to announce any hike in parking fees.

However, the EPCA had made it clear on Tuesday that its orders are legally binding and have to be enforced once the chief secretaries of the respective states issue them.

It was the Environment Ministry which, in January, had empowered the EPCA through a gazette notification to enforce the GRAP to combat air pollution in the Delhi-ncr region.

According to the forecast of the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences’ System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the 24-hour-average concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 will be around 420 and 678 micrograms per cubic metre.

Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Madhavan Rajeevan said the smog in Delhi is not localised but spread across the entire region. He said the conditions would persist for another two-three days.

The SAFAR suggested that the “sudden” intrusion of pollutant-laden smoke from neighbouring Punjab and Haryana from the night of November 6 led to the spike as the high quantity of moisture in the city’s air trapped the particulates.

Apart from Delhi, near Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Noida were also in the ‘severe’ category.

Residents of the city complained of heavy breathing and watery eyes as the smog did not even spare living rooms or underground metro stations.

On Tuesday, with a score of 448 on a scale of 500, the air quality index was at the year’s worst.

The Indian Medical Association had declared a “public health emergency” and appealed to the government to stop outdoor sports and other such activities in schools to protect the health of children.

The Delhi government had also issued a health advisory for high-risk people, including children, the elderly, pregnant women and those suffering from asthma and heart ailments.

The deadly smog that has covered Delhi and its surrounding areas for the last two days resulted in a massive pile-up of vehicles on the Yamuna Expressway in the capital’s outskirts on Wednesday morning. At least 24 cars were damaged, and several of the drivers were injured, sources said.

NOIDA: As air pollution levels reached ‘severe' category, the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration on Wednesday ordered a stop of all private construction activity, garbage burning in the open, functioning of hot mix plants and all other such activities.

The level of PM2.5 shot up to a peak level of 500 micrograms per cubic metre in Noida on Wednesday.

A drive to sprinkle water on all the major roads nearby construction sites was also carried by the district authority on Wednesday.

While schools were given no orders to close down, some decided to voluntary close junior classes on November 8 and 9.

Central School in Noida also announced to voluntarily remain shut till Class VIII on November 9 and 10.

"A stringent action plan and implementing Graded Response Action Plan is being followed in the city to curb rising air pollution levels. Construction sites have been given strict instructions on compliance of dust control norms. Among other measures are curbing of garbage burning and imposing penalties on farmers for stubble burning. The decision to shut schools will be taken after monitoring the conditions for next 24 hours,” said B N Singh, district magistrate, Gautam Buddh Nagar.

According to officials of the pollution control board, the current situation in NCR has been caused due high humidity and slow wind speed.

The dust accumulated in the air will be removed if it rains.