Air quality worsens to severe plus; schools stay open as order comes late

In view of the air emergency, the district administration in Gautam Budh Nagar ordered all schools to suspend in-person classes for grades 1-8 till November 8. The administration also asked schools to stop outdoor activities for senior students and to conduct online classes for them, too, if possible

Pollution levels in Noida has gone off the charts with an air quality index (AQI) reading of 526 on Friday morning, according to the Union government’s Safar application. The average 24-hour AQI in Noida on Friday was 406, in the “severe” category, while Greater Noida recorded an AQI of 425, also in the ”severe” category.

Noida, India, November 04, 2022: Commuters out on a smoggy morning at Sector 65 in Noida, India, on Friday, November 04, 2022. (Photo by Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

In view of the air emergency, the district administration in Gautam Budh Nagar ordered all schools to suspend in-person classes for grades 1-8 till November 8. The administration also asked schools to stop outdoor activities for senior students and to conduct online classes for them, too, if possible. However, despite orders to keep schools closed, several schools remained open even for junior classes on Friday.

When asked, schools said the order to stay closed till November 8 came quite late on Thursday, for it to be duly notified to all students and parents.

Nandita Sinha Roy, principal of Cambridge School, Noida, said, “Since the order came late, students came to school and attended classes on Friday. The order will be implemented from Saturday.”

Renu Singh, principal of Amity International School, said a few students were informed about the closure order but many couldn’t be informed and they turned up for classes on Friday. The school said it conducted both in-person and online classes simultaneously.

Meanwhile, Kamini Bhasin, principal of Delhi Public School, Noida, said the school was able to inform all students and parents about the closure order and classes were held only online on Friday.

The district administration, meanwhile, issued a fresh order restricting all linear construction and use of light motor vehicles that don’t comply with BS-VI standards in Gautam Budh Nagar. “We have started inspection drives along with the traffic police and those who do not comply are being penalised and/or their vehicles seized,” said Siyaram Verma, assistant regional transport officer.

He added that a drive was also conducted for all the autos registered in Noida. Of the 18,634 autos in Noida officially, 2,618 did not have pollution under control (PUC) certificates, while 1,362 did not have a valid permit and 4,109 did not have fitness certificates.

Even with the district reeling under such high pollution levels for over a week now, the anti-smog tower, built by the Noida authority last year at a cost of nearly ₹2.5 crore, has not been made functional. The 20 metre tall tower is located along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, near the stretch leading to DND Flyway.

Just like an air-conditioner, the fans of the tower are expected to suck the polluted air and the filter out the dust particles before releasing the clean air back into the environment. The tower was expected to be effective in controlling pollution within a kilometre radius.

When asked why this tower was non-operational, Noida authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari said it was working and only “temporarily” stopped . “It was stopped for some maintenance work by BHEL and will be restarted by Saturday afternoon,” she said.

The Noida authority and Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) officials have already directed all restaurants and hotels to stop using coal-based tandoor ovens, while the traffic police has increased deployment at all congestion spots. Till Thursday, the UPPCB has imposed penalties totalling ₹48.90 lakh for 54 violations related to construction.