Delhi Chief Minister Atishi has announced staggered timings for all government offices across the national capital. The decision has been taken in a bid to tackle the worsening air quality in the city, which has remained in the "severe" category for three consecutive days now.
GRAP Stage III has already been implemented on Delhi starting from November 15 morning. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Thursday imposed GRAP Stage III restrictions across the city to curb the situation. As of 9 AM, the AQI in Delhi stood at 411, which comes under the "severe" category.
All government offices across the city will follow these timings, effective immediately:
- Municipal Corporation of Delhi: 8:30 am to 5:00 pm
- Central Government: 9:00 am to 5:30 pm
- Delhi Government: 10:00 am to 6:30 pm
The mov is aimed at reducing the emissions from transport, which is one of the key contributors to the poor air quality in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the restrictions imposed under the GRAP Stage III include, ban on non-essential construction and demolition, closure of stone crushers and mining activities in Delhi-NCR, and prohibition on inter-state buses from NCR states, barring electric, CNG, and BS-VI diesel buses.
Additionally, primary schools have been shifted to online mode of teaching and the water sprinkling on major roads has been increased.
An additional cluster of 106 buses would ply in the city while the metro trains would make 60 extra trips each day after GRAP-3 restrictions were imposed due to the air pollution, Envrionment Minister Gopal Rai announced on Friday.
The GRAP for Delhi-NCR is divided into four stages of air quality -- Stage 1 for poor Air Quality Index (AQI) ranging between 201 and 300, Stage 2 for very poor AQI of 301-400, Stage 3 for severe AQI of 401-450 and Stage 4 for severe plus AQI (more than 450).