School to start at 10am for students up to class 8 from Jan 18 amid dense fog, chilly weather

Classes from nursery till class 8 in all schools (recognised by the state board, CBSE, ICSE, IB, UP Board and others), across Noida and Greater Noida, will commence at 10am from Thursday onwards, Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma ordered on Wednesday.

The order, issued to the district basic education department came in the light of the cold wave like conditions gripping the National Capital Region (NCR).

“In compliance with the instructions by DM GB Nagar on account of dense fog and extreme cold, classes in all schools from nursery to class 8 will be conducted from 10am, January 18 onwards, until further notice,” said the order from Verma.

Gautam Budh Nagar basic education officer, Rahul Panwar has also called for strict enforcement of the orders issued.

Classes for students from nursery to class 8 were suspended till January 16 in the district, in view of the adverse weather conditions, while classes were ongoing for students of classes 9 till 12, said district education officials. The timings for the students of class 9-12 were earlier changed to 10am to 3pm, until January 20, on the directions of the basic education department.

Notably, government schools in the district usually function from 9am to 3pm during winters, said officials.

A cold wave occurs in the plains when the minimum temperature is 10°C or below and/or is 4.5 notches lesser than the season’s normal for two consecutive days. A cold wave is also declared when the minimum temperature is less than 4 °C in the plains, as per India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The minimum temperature of Gautam Budh Nagar was recorded at 6.0°C and the maximum temperature was 18°C on Wednesday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The IMD has forecast similar weather conditions in Gautam Budh Nagar till January 23, with minimum and maximum temperatures hovering between 5-7 °C and 18-19 °C, respectively, along with the possibility of fog.

According to Mahesh Palawat, vice president, climate and meteorology at private weather channel Skymet, the Delhi-NCR has been witnessing cold days with cloudy weather conditions, haze and dense fog since the past week.

“The western disturbance is about to subside and the this is expected to bring some respite as a marginal increase in both minimum and maximum temperature is expected. However, the winter chill is likely to persist,” he said.

“It is expected that the intensity of fog may decrease over the coming days, resulting in the sun putting in an appearance as the fog will lift early. Another intense western disturbance is anticipated around January 26,” Palawat said.