Delhi-NCR school reopening: Will physical classes start on Tuesday amid ‘poor’ AQI after SC push? Here’s what we know

As the air quality slightly improved in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), schools in this region are preparing for resumption of physical classes after the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday night ordered that all classes upto standard 12 be conducted in hybrid mode.

“State Govts in the NCR shall ensure that all classes upto 12th Standard are conducted in a “Hybrid” mode i.e., both in “physical” and also in an “online”, wherever online mode is feasible in the territorial jurisdiction of the NCT of Delhi and in the districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar in the NCR,” said the CAQM order.

The physical classes have been suspended in the Delhi-NCR — Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, Greater Noida, and Ghaziabad — for more than a week now due to severe air pollution.

GRAP-IV rules

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to consider relaxing norms under Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)-IV for educational institutions, observing that many students could not get mid-day meals, attend online classes, or have access access to air purifiers.

Last week, GRAP-IV was imposed in the national capital after the Air Quality Index (AQI) crossed the 450 mark, and the apex court had said that the curbs can’t be eased without its approval.

A bench of justices Abhay S Oka and AG Masih made it clear that it is leaving it to the Commission to decide to what extent the norms applicable in GRAP III and GRAP-IV as of today can be either relaxed or exceptions can be carved out.

The Commission has been directed to make a decision on this issue by Monday or latest by Tuesday morning so that it can be implemented from Wednesday.

The matter is scheduled to come up before the top court again on November 28.

Delhi AQI

Delhi’s air quality improved to ‘poor’ on Monday, according to the latest CPCB data.

At 9 am, the national capital’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 281, compared to 318 at 4 pm on Sunday, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

However, 15 of Delhi’s 39 monitoring stations recorded an AQI in the ‘very poor’ category. Shadipur had the worst AQI with a reading of 353.