Chief minister of Delhi, has ordered to shut all the schools in Delhi for three days. The order has been put in place due to as the citizens are struggling with extreme smog levels. Arvind Kejriwal took the decision after an emergency meeting and has also promised to take measures to deal with the extreme air pollution problem in the city.
Meanwhile, construction and demolition work has been banned for five days in the city. Water will also be sprinkled on the main roads to help suppress the dust. The chief minister has advised the citizens to stay indoors as much as possible and work from home if they can. The government has also announced certain measures like fighting fires at the landfill sites and shutting down the coal based Badarpur power plant.
More than 1,800 municipal schools have been shut down on November 5, 2016. Emergency moves have been taken after levels PM2.5 of tiny particles were reached. The figure is capable of clogging people’s lungs soared to more than 90 times the levels that are considered safe by the World Health Organization and 15 times the Indian Government’s norms. Citizens came out wearing masks to protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar monument where they shared their fears and frustrations on social media using the hashtag #MyRigghtToBreathe.
An official from the India Meteorological Department said that the visibility in Delhi was just 200m at 8:30am local time which was caused by heavy fog and smoke. The Chief Minister has called for India’s national government to help control the smog which has enveloped in to the city since the festival of Diwali. The Indian festival is celebrated across the country with fireworks that release soot and dust in to the air. Moreover, during winter months poor people burn rubbish at night to stay warm.
Photo Credits: phys
