Authorities declare public emergency as Delhi-NCR's air quality drops to 'severe+' level; schools to remain shut till Tuesday

New Delhi: The Delhi government on Friday decided to shut all schools till 5 November after a Supreme Court-mandated panel declared a public health emergency in the Delhi-NCR region in the wake of the rising level of pollution. As the pollution level in the region entered the “severe-plus” category", the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority banned construction activity till November 5 and bursting of crackers during the winter season. “In the wake of the rising level of pollution caused by stubble burning, the Delhi government has decided to shut all schools till 5 November,” Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi. The chief minister also met EPCA Chairman Bhure Lal and assured him of all cooperation in implementing the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

I had an excellent meeting wid Sh Bhure Lal ji, EPCA chief. I sought guidance from him and reiterated the commitment of our govt in dealing wid pollution. I also assured him all cooperation in implementing GRAP and other measures.

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 1, 2019

In a letter to chief secretaries of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, Lal said, “The air quality in Delhi and NCR deteriorated further last night and are now at the severe-plus level. We have to take this as a public health emergency as it will have adverse health impacts on all, particularly our children.” The blanket of haze over Delhi thickened on Friday morning with the national capital’s pollution levels increasing overnight. Lal said pollution touched “severe-plus” levels early on Friday morning but came back to the “severe” category later. According to official data, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) at 1 pm on Friday was recorded at 480, which falls in the “severe” category. [caption id=“attachment_5491111” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] An AQI between 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’. Above 500 falls in the ‘severe-plus emergency’ category. In an earlier tweet, Kejriwal said Delhi has turned into a “gas chamber” due to smoke arising out of crop burning in Punjab and Haryana. He said the Manohar Lal Khattar government and Captain Amrinder Singh government were forcing their farmers to indulge in stubble burning causing a spike in pollution in the national capital. On Friday morning, Kejriwal distributed masks to schoolchildren as part of the government’s initiative to protect them from pollution and also explained children about stubble burning. He told students that smoke emanating from stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana was causing air pollution here and asked them to write letters to chief ministers of the two states urging them to control it. _**ALSO READ: EPCA declares public health emergency in Delhi-NCR region, bans all construction activities till 5 November**_