Capital Lockdown? SC to Hear Delhi Govt’s Proposal To Curb Pollution

New Delhi: The Delhi government will submit a proposal on Monday (today) in the Supreme Court for a possible lockdown in the national capital owing to the high pollution level. Although there was a visible improvement in Delhi’s air quality on Sunday,  it remained in the ‘very poor’ category. Environment Minister Gopal Rai said his government will submit a lockdown proposal to the Supreme Court on Monday to reduce pollution further.

The national capital recorded a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 330 on Sunday compared to 437 the previous day as emissions from farm fires in Haryana and Punjab dropped significantly. The AQI was around 471 on Friday, the worst this season so far, India Today reported.

The SC has asked the Centre to share the steps taken so far to curb pollution. The Centre will also share the steps likely to be taken to improve the air quality index and bring it down to at least 200 points from the current level which has been above 500 on average.

Meanwhile, the Haryana government Sunday ordered the closure of all schools, government and private, in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonepat and Jhajjar till November 17 due to deteriorating air quality in districts around Delhi-NCR. It banned all types of construction and development activities and prohibited stubble burning. It also asked offices to consider allowing employees to work from home to reduce vehicular congestion.