Delhi pollution: Schools shut for 3 days, odd-even may return, says Kejriwal

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All schools in Delhi would remain closed for three days and road-rationing could be brought back, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday, announcing a list of emergency measures as the city continued to battle smog.

Kejriwal called an emergency meeting of his cabinet during the day as pollution levels remained alarming for the sixth day running. “We never anticipated air pollution would reach such alarming levels. We are not solely blaming crop burning,” said the chief minister.

He announced a five-day ban on all construction and demolition in the city. Dust arising out of these activities is one of the big reasons for the rise in PM 2.5 levels. The tiny dust particles can lodge deep in lungs and blood tissues, triggering respiratory and cardiac problems.

“People should stay at home as much as they can, work from home,” Kejriwal said, adding bulldozers would be used to put out fires that burn at landfill sites.

The coal-fired Badarpur plant will be shut down for 10 days and fly ash, or the fine dust produced in coal burning, will not be transported out of the plant during the period. The fly ash, used in making bricks, lying at the plant site would be sprinkled with water so it doesn’t disperse in the air.

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