The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that physical classes for all school students up to grade 12 in Delhi should be suspended for the time being in light of the acute air pollution that has gripped the national capital, says a report from
Bar & Bench.
A bench of justice Abhay S Oka and justice Augustine George Masih passed the order on insistence by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan who pointed out that students of classes 10 and 12 were being made to attend classes physically, the report says.
The apex court also said that to combat the deteriorating air quality level in Delhi, it is contemplating passing an order to ensure that the graded response action plan IV (GRAP IV) is in force even if the air quality index (AQI) improves and goes below 300. According to
Central pollution control board (CPCB) data, the overall AQI of Ashok Vihar went up to 500 while AQI was recorded at 497 for Anand Vihar locality in Delhi at 3pm Monday.
GRAP IV is usually implemented when AQI exceeds 450 and it involves a complete ban on construction activities, school closure and an odd-even scheme for vehicles.
"We are making it very clear that you will not go below stage 4 without our permission now even if AQI goes below 300. That is the order we are proposing," the bench of justice Oka and justice Masih said.
The bench also criticised the delay in implementing GRAP stages III and IV, stating that the Commission for Air Quality Management's (CAQM) approach of waiting for AQI levels to improve before taking action contravened the SC's 2018 order which mandated preventive measures.
The SC was hearing a plea seeking enforcement of measures to improve the ‘severe’ air quality index-AQI.
The GRAP IV is currently in force in the national capital after the commission for air quality management (CAQM) activated the same in response to the worsening AQI.
Meanwhile, about 14 flights were diverted and many were delayed at the Delhi airport as bad weather conditions in the national capital resulted in poor visibility, impacting aircraft operations. As many as 13 flights were diverted to Jaipur and one to Dehradun from morning till 3pm.
Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo informed passengers through X that flights may be affected due to poor visibility conditions in the national capital, which is also grappling with high pollution levels.
In view of this trend in AQI owing to unfavourable meteorological conditions in Delhi-NCR, the sub-committee for operationalisation of the GRAP CPCB for AQI in the National Capital Region (NCR) and adjoining areas (CAQM) had called on an emergency meeting on Sunday.
It decided to invoke all actions as envisaged under Stage-IV of GRAP – ‘Severe+’ Air Quality (Delhi’s AQI > 450), from 8am on 18 November 2024 in the entire NCR. This is in addition to the preventive and restrictive actions mentioned under Stage-I, Stage-II and Stage-III of GRAP already in force.
Here are the steps as per the 8-point action plan as per Stage IV of GRAP...
1. Stop entry of truck traffic into Delhi (except for trucks carrying essential commodities/ providing essential services.)
All LNG/ CNG / electric/ BS-VI diesel trucks shall, however be permitted to enter Delhi.
2. Do not permit LCVs registered outside Delhi, other than EVs, CNG, and BS-VI diesel, to enter Delhi, except those carrying essential commodities or providing essential services.
3. Enforce a strict ban on plying of Delhi-registered BS-IV and below diesel-operated medium goods vehicles (MGVs) and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) in Delhi, except those carrying essential commodities or providing essential services.
4. Ban C&D activities, as in the GRAP Stage-III, also for linear public projects such as highways, roads, flyovers, overbridges, power transmission, pipelines, telecommunication etc.
5. NCR state governments and GNCTD may take a decision on discontinuing physical classes even for classes VI – IX, class XI and conduct lessons in an online mode.
6. NCR state governments and GNCTD to take a decision on allowing public, municipal and private offices to work on 50% strength and the rest to work from home.
7. Central government may take appropriate decision on permitting work from home for employees in central government offices.
8. State governments may consider additional emergency measures like closure of colleges and educational institutions and closure of non-emergency commercial activities and permitting running of vehicles on odd-even basis of registration numbers.
