Schools in Noida to remain closed till November 10 due to pollution

Noida, Greater Noida schools will remain closed till November 10, the district magistrate issued an order on Tuesday.

All schools in Noida and Greater Noida will remain closed till November 10 owing to the deteriorating air quality in Uttar Pradesh's Gautambudha Nagar district. Physical classes from pre-school to class 9 will be discontinued and online classes will be held, the district magistrate of Gautam Budha Nagar said in an order issued on Tuesday.

Schools in Noida to remain closed till November 10 due to pollution

As Delhi is choking on polluted air, the situation is no better in the neighbouring districts - Noida, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad, physical classes have been suspended in Delhi since November 3 as the air quality turned severe. Schools in Gurugram and Faridabad were closed from November 7. Physical classes were held in Noida, Greater Noida on Tuesday after which the order was issued.

On Tuesday, Noida's average AQI was above 300 -- in the 'very poor' category. The AQI in Greater Noida was severe -- 447 at Knowledge Park III station, 457 at Knowledge Park V station -- at 3pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board data.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to stop stubble burning immediately -- calling the situation in the national capital a "complete murder of the health of people". There can not be a political battle all the time, the top court observed as the usual blame game over Delhi-NCR pollution started. The bench was also unsure of Delhi government's odd-even scheme --scheduled to start from November 13 -- and asked whether it has ever yielded any result.

Following the court's rap, the Delhi government hit pause on odd-even and did not announce the rules as it was scheduled to. Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said the government would go through the Supreme Court's direction and would incorporate them in the scheme.