Delhi govt to take a call on reopening schools today

New Delhi, Nov 24: As air quality improved marginally in India, the Delhi government is set to take a call on reopening of schools on Wednesday. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai is expected to hold a high-level meeting today to review pollution-related restrictions imposed in the city.
A decision on reopening of schools, colleges and other educational institutions and work-from-home for government staff will be taken during the review meeting. Schools in Delhi have been shut since November 15 due to ‘severe’ air pollution levels. The Directorate of Education had earlier announced that schools, colleges as well as government offices will remain closed till further orders. In the meantime, online education will continue as it was during the pandemic imposed lockdown. The AAP government on Wednesday lifted the ban on construction and demolition activities in view of an improvement in the air quality and inconvenience caused to workers. Delhi’s air quality is back to ‘very poor’ category, with he hourly air quality index (AQI) reading at 7am 350, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). On Tuesday, the average 24-hour AQI was 290, which was in the “poor” category.

The CPCB classifies an AQI of zero to 50 as “good”, 51-100 as “satisfactory”, 101-200 as “moderate”, 201-300 as “poor”, 301-400 as “very poor” and above 401 as “severe”.