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On Delhi air pollution, SC to hear plea seeking urgent steps next week
Delhi air pollution: The city's air quality has been dropping since Diwali.
As Delhi continues to witness deteriorating air quality, the Supreme Court is set to hear a plea next week - on November 10 - that seeks urgent measures to curb air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR). The national capital and nearby cities are having their annual share of breathless moments ever since the ban on crackers was widely violated amid Diwali celebrations last week. Farm fires raging in the states of Punjab and Haryana are also blamed every year for the worsening air quality.
On Friday morning, the city's pollution levels remained in the severe plus category with an hourly Air Quality Index (AQI) of 453 at 7am. This was after the central pollution control authority was prompted to call for a series of restrictions under category 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on Thursday such as a ban on the entry of diesel trucks and the use of older private diesel vehicles.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that primary schools in the national capital would be shut from Saturday. For secondary school students, outdoor activities would be restricted. In neighbouring Noida, schools have been told to hold classes online till November 8.
In a statement, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said it is "not satisfied with the various actions taken so far to address the issue of air pollution in Delhi-NCR". It has asked the chief secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to be present before it on November 10.
"Their reports must also inform about the effect of smog towers and anti-smog guns as to how many such anti-smog guns are operational and what further steps Govt. of NCT of Delhi and the concerned governments are taking in near future. The report of Punjab and Haryana must also specifically inform about the effect of the scheme of in-situ management of crop residue," a statement read.
