Shut down schools for few days over high pollution level: Chief minister Kejriwal to Manish Sisodia
Arvind Kejriwal
A thick blanket of smog engulfed Delhi and its adjoining areas on Tuesday morning, with visibility dropping drastically.
As pollution level in Delhi roseto alarming levels, the state government swung into action with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal askingDelhi education minister Manish Sisodia to shut down schools in the national capital.
A thick blanket of smog engulfed Delhi and its adjoining areas on Tuesday morning, with visibility dropping drastically. Many flights and trains were delayed as a result.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) declared ita public health emergency and suggested schools to be to shut downand cancellation of theupcoming half marathon saying consequences of poor qualityfor runners could be "disastrous".
The US embassy website said that levels of the fine pollutants, known as PM2.5 which are most harmful to health, reached 703 which was well over double the threshold of 300 that authorities term as "hazardous".
According to theCentral Pollution Control Board (CPCB), emissions are trapped in the environment due to high levels of moisture in the air and lack of wind.
"Total calm conditions, marked by the complete absence of wind, has led to the situation," said Dipankar Saha, a senior executive, CPCB.
While an Air Quality Index between 0-50 considered good, Delhi’s average AQI was 411 at 9 am (local time) on Tuesday morning, which is close to "severe". According to the IMD, visibility also took a plunge and it was way below 200 metres.
On Tuesday, the air quality index, which measures the concentration of poisonous particulate matter in the air, hit the "severe" level of 451 on a scale where the maximum reading is 500 and where anything above 100 is considered unhealthy by the CPCB (Reuters,ANI)
People took to Twitter to express their concern as smog levels increased in Delhi.