Air Pollution: Supreme Court pulls up Delhi government over schools reopening

New Delhi, Dec 2: The Supreme Court pulled up the Delhi government over the reopening of schools amid rising pollution, as per news agency ANI.

"When the government implemented work from home for adults then why children are being forced to go to school. We feel there is nothing happening, in spite of air pollution levels rising," the SC observed.

While expressing concerns over the measures taken by the government to reduce the pollution, the court stated that the Delhi government had assured that the schools will not be reopened till further orders. "We are serious about industrial and vehicular pollution. You cannot fire bullets from our shoulders, you have to take steps. Why are schools open? " the apex court asked the Delhi government.

It has given 24 hours deadline to the Centre and Delhi government to come up with a serious plan for the implementation of air pollution control measures.

Also, the Supreme Court warned the Centre and Delhi governments that if they fail to take measures to control pollution, then the court will pass an order.

The Court will hear the matter tomorrow at 10 am.

After remaining shut for two weeks due to air pollution, the schools and all other educational institutions in Delhi reopened from Monday despite the air quality still being in the "very poor" category.

In the wake of high air pollution levels, the schools in the national capital had remained shut for two weeks since November 14. The government had taken several measures including banning construction workers and launching 'red light on gaadi off' campaign to reduce the pollution levels.

Meanwhile, the air quality in the national capital continued to remain in the 'very poor' category on Thursday morning, as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi on Thursday morning was recorded at 312.

The CPCB classifies an AQI of zero to 50 as "good", 51-100 as "satisfactory", 101-200 as "moderate", 201-300 as "poor", 301-400 as "very poor" and above 401 as "severe".