Delhi Air Pollution: Public health emergency declared, schools shut till Tuesday

New Delhi: The Delhi government on Friday decided to shut all schools till November 5 after a Supreme Court mandated panel declared a public health emergency in the Delhi-NCR region in the wake of rising level of pollution.

As the pollution level in the region entered the "severe plus" category", the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority banned construction activity till November 5 and bursting of crackers during the winter season.

"In the wake of rising level of pollution caused by stubble burning, the Delhi government has decided to shut all schools till November 5," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

The chief minister also met EPCA Chairman Bhure Lal and assured him of all cooperation in implementing the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

According to GRAP, if the air quality persists in the "severe plus" category for more than 48 hours, emergency measures such as odd-even car rationing scheme, banning entry of trucks, construction activities will be taken.

"I had an excellent meeting wid Sh Bhure Lal ji, EPCA chief. I sought guidance from him and reiterated the commitment of our govt in dealing wid pollution. I also assured him all cooperation in implementing GRAP and other measures," Kejriwal said in another tweet.

In a letter to chief secretaries of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, Lal said, "The air quality in Delhi and NCR deteriorated further last night and is now at the severe plus level. We have to take this as a public heath emergency as it will have adverse health impacts on all, particularly our children."

The blanket of haze over Delhi thickened on Friday morning with the national capital's pollution levels increasing overnight.

Lal said pollution touched "severe plus" levels early on Friday morning but came back to "severe" category later. According to official data, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) at 1 pm on Friday was recorded at 480, which falls in the "severe" category.

Bawana was the most-polluted area with an AQI of 497, followed by Delhi Technological University (487), Wazirpur (485), Anand Vihar (484) and Vivek Vihar (482).

Neighbouring Ghaziabad was the most-polluted city in the country, with the levels of PM2.5 - tiny particulate matter less than 2.5 microns that can enter deep into the lungs - reaching as high as 493.

Greater Noida (480), Noida (477), and Faridabad (432) also breathed extremely polluted air.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'. Above 500 falls in the 'severe-plus emergency' category.

The number of masked faces continued to grow as the city remained shrouded in pungent haze for the fourth consecutive day.

Weather experts said increased wind speed due to a fresh western disturbance approaching the northern region would help disperse pollutants faster from Saturday.

In an earlier tweet, Kejriwal said Delhi has turned into a "gas chamber" due to smoke arising out of crop burning in Punjab and Haryana.

He said the Manohar Lal Khattar government and Captain Amrinder Singh government were forcing their farmers to indulge in stubble burning causing spike in pollution in the national capital.

On Friday morning, Kejriwal distributed masks to school children as part of the government's initiative to protect them from pollution and also explained children about stubble burning.

He told students that smoke emanating from stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana was causing air pollution here and asked them to write letters to chief ministers of the two states urging them to control it.

Meanwhile, the BCCI said it would carry on with the India-Bangladesh T20 at the Feroz Shah Kotla grounds on Sunday, disregarding concerns raised by environmentalists about the health of players and thousands of spectators.