Delhi shuts schools, Work from home for govt staff-CM Kejriwal

After the Supreme Court's rap, the Delhi governent announced slew of emergecy steps to ease the rising air pollution challenge in the national capital. Delhi schools will shift to online classes starting Monday, all construction activity will be shut down and government offices will work from home, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday. However, construction work - among those that contributes to dust and microscopic pollutants in the air - will only be shut down for four days - from November 14 to 17, the Chief Minister said. Private offices will be issued an advisory to go for the 'Work From Home' option as much as possible, Kejriwal said. The chief minister said that pollution level is rising in Delhi due to stubble burning in neighbouring states and called upon all stakeholders to work together to combat it.

The air quality in Delhi remained in the 'severe' category on Saturday morning, with the AQI being recorded at 473. The air quality index of neighbouring areas of Noida and Gurgaon was recorded at 587 and 557 respectively. Delhi and surrounding areas, including Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad, have been choking under a deadly blanket of polluted air for over seven days now - beginning with Diwali last week. The Central Pollution Control Board sounding an emergency on Friday. "Meteorological conditions will be highly unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants till November 18 in view of low winds with calm conditions during the night," the advisory said.