Air pollution: Delhi schools to take early winter break from Nov 9 amid poor air quality
Delhi Air Pollution: In the wake of implementation of GRAP-IV measures due to Severe Air Quality prevailing in Delhi and seeing that no respite from such adverse weather conditions in near future is predicted by the IMO, the Winter Break for the session 2023-24 is ordered to be preponed so that schools can be totally closed and both children and teachers can stay at home.
Accordingly, all schools shall observe Winter Break wef. 09th November 2023 (tomorrow) to 18th November 2023 (Saturday).
Delhi is currently grappling with toxic smoke and severe air quality
Delhi's air quality was rated as an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 418, indicating hazardous conditions. Several areas within the city suffered even worse air quality, with Punjabi Bagh recording an AQI of 460, Narela at 448, Bawana at 462, Anand Vihar at 452, and Rohini at 451. Meanwhile, Mumbai, which had its own air quality concerns, reported a relatively better AQI of 165 on the same morning.
The neighboring cities of Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad were not spared from this air quality crisis. Noida recorded an average AQI of 409, Gurugram at 370, Faridabad at 396, and Ghaziabad at 382, all signaling hazardous levels of air pollution.
Air pollution levels can be high during the winter months for a number of reasons, including dust and vehicular pollution, dry-cold weather, stubble burning, burning crop residues after the harvest season, and commuting.
- With inputs from agencies
