Commuters make their way on a foggy winter morning, in New Delhi.
Credit: PTI Photo
On December 14, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) directed Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) to suspend outdoor activities conducted by schools to ensure the safety of the students.
In addition to the order, authorities have implemented the Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to curb the increasing Air Quality Index (AQI) levels.
As the national capital's AQI crossed 400 on Sunday, many speculate that schools will switch back to an online mode and the other restrictions that may follow.
What is the GRAP 4?
GRAP-4 indicates that the region's AQI has entered the "severe plus" level, as per classifications of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). With this, certain activities are restricted under the strict set of measures.
What is restricted under GRAP-4?
1. Banning of demolition and construction work.
2. Suspension of industries running on furnace oil, coal, or other non-approved fuels.
3. Shutting down of kilns, stone crushers, and mine sites.
4. Prohibition of BS-III petrol vehicles and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers.
5. Barred entry of diesel-run medium and heavy goods vehicles, except transfer of vehicles carrying essential goods.
6. Suspension of non-essential inter-state diesel buses that are not BS-VI, electric, or run on CNG.
7. All forms of burning are strictly banned.
What is permitted?
Construction of critical infrastructure is permitted. This includes projects like metro, airport, railway, and sanitation. Further, planning related to healthcare, defence, national highways are also allowed.
Several measures applied to control dust particles, repair work and maintenance services can continue.
Public commute, including buses and metro services, will continue to function.
Power units supplying electricity will remain open, diesel-generators will only be used by hospitals, telecom service, data centres, and emergency operations.
Will schools switch to an online mode?
Schools may switch to an online or a hybrid mode of scheduling classes, especially for the younger batch of students. However, nothing official has been announced yet.
The CAQM has directed concerned authorities to suspend outdoor physical activities in schools, as the pollution poses "serious health risk to children".
As Delhi continues to battle the imbalance in pollution levels, smog intensity, and lowered visibility, the implementation of the GRAP-4 is expected to avoid the air quality from worsening further emergency situations.