In the last few days, the air quality in the national capital Delhi has become extremely poisonous which is a matter of serious concern . At present, even Diwali is far away and even before that, worsening air quality continues to add to the woes of the health department as well. Also, in many districts of the state adjacent to Delhi and falling in the National Capital Region (NCR) the air quality has become an extremely poor category. Besides, several districts of the state are among the top ten cities of the country in terms of air pollution. The seriousness of the matter can be gauged from the fact that the government has also issued guidelines regarding physical closure of classes. People already suffering from pulmonary disease are advised to stay away from exposure to air pollution as it can cause many health problems. Poor Air Quality Index ( AQI) level is most likely to have far-reaching implications on the health of the people. Additionally, breathing in air pollutants can cause irritation in the human airways. Air pollution also causes difficulty in breathing, cough, sore throat, asthma attack and chest pain. Long-term exposure to air pollution can also cause life-threatening problems like lung cancer, heart attack, stroke. In view of these circumstances, experts are of the opinion that they should come out of their homes only when necessary, because exposure to bad air can be costly.
Notably, AQI scores between 0-50, 51-100, 101-200, 201-300, 301- 400 and 401 to 500 are termed as good, satisfactory, moderate, poor, very poor and severe quality respectively. It is pertinent to mention that AQI of poor and very poor quality poses a threat to health of the people while the AQI falling in severa quality is more dangerous for the people suffering from the disease. Sonipat, Faridabad and Fatehabad are among the most polluted top ten cities across the county with AQI scores of 424, 416 and 414 respectively. Apart from this, the list of the districts and cities with very poor air quality includes Dharuhera, Bhiwani Ballabhgarh, Hisar, Jind , Kaithal, Manesar, Narnaul, Rohtak and Sirsa.
The gravity of the worsening scenario is evident from the education department has come up with directions regarding discontinuing physical mode of classes due to severe Air Quality Index (AQI) levels and the Deputy Commissioners shall assess the prevailing situation in their respective districts in view of the severe AQI levels and implementation of GRAP 4 in Delhi and NCR and may decide on closure/holding of classes in online mode in Private and Government schools (Primary, Elementary and Secondary) in the interest of the health and safety of the students as per the need. The assessment for rural and urban areas of the concerned districts may be carried out separately along with necessary measures accordingly.
In view of increasing air pollution in districts of Haryana, government and private schools may be closed. The Directorate of School Education has issued letters to all the DCs of districts falling in NCR. It has been instructed that DC should take the decision of opening or closing schools keeping in mind the AQI (Air Quality Index) in his district. Earlier, schools have been closed in Delhi due to pollution. Keeping in view the prevailing scenario, the Deputy Commissioners of districts in NCR have started brainstorming about closing private and government schools. At present the situation in NCR is worse in Gurugram and Faridabad. The third stage of GRAP has been implemented at both the places.
The decision will be taken on schools of these districts and the list includes Karnal, Jind, Panipat, Sonipat, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Jhajjar, Gurugram, Faridabad, Rewari, Mahendragarh, Nuhan and Palwa districtal.