Primary schools in Delhi to reopen from Nov 9; Ban on construction work lifted

New Delhi, Nov 07: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Monday said the primary schools in the national capital will reopen from November 9, 2022. He also lifted the ban on the entry of trucks into the national capital.

At a press conference, Rai said,''Directions for the work from home are being amended and offices have been functioning at full capacity from today.''

''Therefore, it has been decided to lift the curbs imposed under stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan in compliance with the direction from the Commission for Air Quality Management,'' he said, as reported by PTI. ''Primary schools will reopen from November 9 and the order asking 50 per cent of the government staff to work from home is being revoked,'' the minister said.

The government has also lifted the ban on construction work related to highway, road, flyovers, overbridge, pipelines, and power transmission.

The decision was taken during a high-level meeting to discuss the new directions by the Centre's air quality panel about revoking curbs imposed under stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

As the air pollution in Delhi-NCR ameliorated over the last two days, the Centre's air quality panel Sunday directed authorities to lift the ban on plying of non-BS VI diesel light motor vehicles in the region and the entry of trucks into the capital imposed under the final stage of the Graded Response Action Plan.

The CAQM order recommending the restrictions was issued on Thursday.

High pollution levels had prompted the Delhi government to announce additional measures on Friday, including the closure of primary schools from Saturday and work from home for 50 per cent of its staff. The 24-hour average air quality index of Delhi improved from 447 on Friday to 381 on Saturday and further to 339 on Sunday, primarily due to favourable wind speed and a drop in the contribution of stubble burning.