Pollution: Delhi government orders online classes till Nov 10; Classes 10th, 12th exempted

The Delhi government on Monday ordered all schools to conduct online classes, except for classes 10 and 12 till November 10.

The Delhi government on Monday ordered all schools to conduct online classes, except for classes 10 and 12, till November 10 in view of the worsening air pollution in the national capital.

Delhi-NCR's air quality has entered the 'severe plus' category, breaching the 500 AQI mark (PTI)

“In view of the implementation of Stage IV GRAP order issued by CAQM, it is ordered that all classes - except board classes i.e. X and XII in all schools of Delhi shall be held online upto Nov 10. Teachers shall come to school and conduct online classes,” a notification issued by the Delhi government said.

It added, “As for the board classes, the HoSs shall have the option either to conduct the same online or call the students to school for physical classes.”

The air quality in the national capital has entered the ‘severe plus’ category, breaching the air quality index (AQI) of 500 mark - which is almost 20 times above the recommended limit given by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In view of this, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked stringent measures under stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR with immediate effect on Sunday - in addition to all actions under Stages I, II, and III. Under this stage, the government stops any entry of trucks in Delhi except for LNG/CNG trucks and those involved in essential services. It also imposes a ban on Delhi-registered diesel-operated Medium Goods Vehicles (MGVs) and Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs).

Meanwhile, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on Monday said that the odd-even vehicle rationing system will be reintroduced for a one-week period from November 13 to November 20 to combat the severe air pollution. Under this scheme, vehicles with license plate numbers ending in an even digit (0, 2, 4, 6, 8) are allowed to operate on even dates, while those ending in odd digits (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) can ply on odd dates.