Schools from nursery till Class 5 shut in Gurugram

All government and private schools from pre-nursery to class five shall remain closed in the Gurugram district till further orders due to the high level of air pollution in the city in the past three days, the Gurugram district administration said on Monday.

Gurugram deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav, who is also the chairman of the district disaster management authority, issued the directions saying that schools up to class five are being closed to safeguard the health and well-being of citizens and children in particular.

“All pre-school, pre-primary and primary classes (nursery to class 5) in physical form are ordered to be discontinued from November 7 until further orders in Gurugram district. This applies to both private and government schools,” the order said. However, schools will offer online classes.

Yadav said the situation will be continuously monitored, and decisions regarding the resumption of offline classes will be made based on the prevailing air quality conditions and government directives.

Meanwhile, air quality in the city remained in the very poor category on Monday, with an average air quality index (AQI) reading of 373, an improvement over Sunday’s severe AQI of 402. The slight improvement in air quality is being ascribed to the increase in wind speed, which was recorded at 6km/hr by the India Meteorological Department on Monday as compared to only 2km/hr on Sunday.

The air quality monitoring station at Teri Gram recorded AQI of 368, while at Vikas Sadan, it was 351, at Gwalpahari, it was 357, and the station at Sector 51 recorded an AQI of 412, which is in the severe category.

Air quality experts said the slight dip in temperature has also added to the gathering of pollutants near the surface level over Gurugram. On Monday, the city recorded a maximum (day) temperature of 31.5 degrees Celsius (°C) while the minimum stood at 15.3°C.

AQI in Delhi stood at 421, Faridabad recorded an AQI of 412, while it was 384 in Noida, and Ghaziabad recorded an AQI of 391.

The department of town and country planning intensified its drive against construction activities on Monday and issued notices to five property owners for violating CAQM (Commission for Air Quality Management) norms. “We have issued ten notices to violators in licensed colonies in DLF phases 1, 2, and 3, and in Sushant Lok 2 and 3 in the last three days. Action is being taken for carrying out construction while a ban has been imposed on the same by CAQM,” said Yadav.

The department also issued a helpline number on Monday - 9667143648 - on which city residents can lodge complaints regarding violations of the construction ban. “We are also asking plot owners and contractors to sprinkle water on construction material to prevent dust pollution,” added Yadav.

The Gurugram traffic police also issued an advisory on Monday saying that the entry of BS-3 petrol and BS-4 diesel light motor vehicles (four-wheelers) is prohibited in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), and aside from these, only electric vehicles, essential commodities vehicles, and CNG and LNG vehicles will be exempted from entering Delhi-NCR.

“Before driving your vehicle, the vehicle owner/operator should ensure whether your vehicle falls in the category of prohibited vehicles mentioned above or not so that you do not have to face any inconvenience or legal action,” the advisory said.

A police officer at the traffic police control room in Gurugram said the entry of BS-3 petrol vehicles and BS-4 diesel vehicles shall not be allowed in Gurugram, and the vehicle entry ban will be imposed. “The entry of vehicles banned under Graded Action Response Plan (Grap) 4 guidelines will be restricted and action taken against offenders,” said the officer.