Smog: Pollution levels worsen! Delhi schools to remain shut for 3 days; Gurgaon imposes Section 144 to check waste burning

New Delhi: As pollution levels worsened in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said schools in the city will remain closed till Wednesday.

Also, Kejriwal announced a raft of "emergency" measures to deal with the situation including ban on construction and demolition activities for next five days and temporary closure of Badarpur Power Plant.

"We will discuss with the Centre the possibility of engineering artificial rain in the city that has turned into a "gas chamber" mainly due to large-scale crop burning in Haryana and Punjab," Kejriwal said.

Odd-even

The AAP government is also mulling the possibility of bringing back the odd-even scheme.

Ban on construction, demolition

Kejriwal said all construction and demolition work in the city will banned for five days and water will be sprinkled on roads to deal with dust pollution, adding strict action will be taken against those found burning garbage.

Stay indoors

"We also appeal to people to stay indoors and work from home, if possible," Kejriwal told reporters at his residence.

Artificial rain

The Chief Minister said the Cabinet had received a proposal to go for artificial rain through cloud seeding. "We have asked the Chief Secretary and the Environment Secretary to work with the Centre and assess its possibility and effectiveness," he said

On Saturday, Kejriwal had met Union Environment Minister Anil Dave and discussed series of measures to deal with the alarming air pollution

Sec 144 in Gurgaon

Gurgaon district administration on Sunday exercised section of 144 of CrPC here and banned the burning of waste, garbage and other materials openly.

The order applies with the immediate effect following the direction of TL Satyaprakash, Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon.

It will continue till the city becomes smoke-free, he said.

Gautam Buddha Nagar DM announces emergency steps

Gautam Buddha Nagar District Magistrate (DM) NP Singh on Sunday announced emergency steps in view of the "unprecedented" air pollution levels in the National Capital Region (NCR), officials said.

Singh has announced two days off for the nursery, class 1 and class 2 students of lower primary schools. 

For the rest, classes will be held from 9 am to 1 pm. In addition, all outdoor activities have been suspended in these schools during this period, officials said.