Monday , December 23 2024

‘All schools should be closed in Delhi-NCR’, SC directs states amid increasing pollution

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In view of the increasing air pollution in Delhi, the Supreme Court has given a big order. The Supreme Court on Monday said all states in the NCR region should take an immediate decision to close all physical education classes for students up to class 12. Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi had on Sunday evening announced closure of physical classes for all students except classes 10 and 12 in view of increasing air pollution in the capital.

The decision to close schools has been left to the state government

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih was hearing a plea seeking directions to control air pollution in Delhi and surrounding areas. The court has rapped the Delhi government and the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) for delaying the implementation of anti-pollution controls under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRP) in the national capital. Apart from this, the decision to close schools has been left to the state government.

Next hearing will be on Friday

Gopal Shankar Narayan said that students below class 10 in Delhi have been exempted from physical classes. Only online classes are going on but this has not happened in UP. The court said that today we are talking about Delhi and on Friday we will talk about NCR. Gopal Shankar further said, ‘Parents of school children studying in many cities of NCR like Noida, Ghaziabad etc. are also present in the court. They want relief for their children. Gopal Shankar Narayan said that the court should also be online. The next hearing in this case is to be held on Friday.

Delhi’s air is in very poor category

Air pollution in Delhi has taken a dangerous form. Despite the strong winds that have been going on for two days, the air quality index has reached close to 1200. Highest AQI was recorded in Mundka area. The average AQI of Delhi on Monday morning was 746. Meteorologists have advised people to come out of their homes only when necessary.