Noida : Due to poor air quality in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, all schools of Noida and Greater Noida will remain closed till November 10. Gautam Buddha Nagar District Magistrate, in an order issued on Tuesday, said that physical classes from pre-school to class 9 will be stopped and online classes will be conducted. As Delhi is suffocating from polluted air, the situation is no better in neighboring districts – Noida, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. Physical classes have been suspended in Delhi since November 3 due to severe air quality. Schools in Gurugram and Faridabad were closed since November 7. Physical classes were held in Noida, Greater Noida on Tuesday after which the order was issued. On Tuesday, Noida’s average AQI was above 300, which was in the ‘very poor’ category. According to Central Pollution Control Board data, the AQI situation in Greater Noida at 3 pm was worrying. It was 447 at Knowledge Park III station, 457 at Knowledge Park V station.
SC says, “complete murder of people’s health” in NCR
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to immediately stop stubble burning – calling the situation in the national capital a “complete murder of people’s health”. The top court said that there cannot be a political fight all the time, because the usual allegations and counter-allegations have started on Delhi-NCR pollution. The bench was also unsure about the Delhi government’s odd-even scheme starting from November 13 and asked whether it ever yielded any results. After the court’s rebuke, the Delhi government banned odd-even and did not announce the rules as decided. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that the government will follow the directions of the Supreme Court and include them in the scheme.