The Haryana government on Saturday authorised deputy commissioners to temporarily shut physical classes up to Class 5 in schools in their respective districts after assessing the situation in the wake of rising pollution levels.
"Letters have been written to all the district deputy commissioners on behalf of the directorate of school education in this regard," the state government's department of public relations posted in Hindi on X.
Given the rising pollution, the Haryana government has given the deputy commissioners the authority to temporarily close schools up to Class 5, giving priority to the health of children, it added.
In the letter, the directorate of school education wrote, "I have been directed to inform you that the government has decided that the concerned deputy commissioners shall assess the prevailing situation (as per the GRAP) in view of the severe AQI levels in Delhi and surrounding regions and may discontinue physical classes and issue necessary directions for holding online classes for upto Class 5th in the schools (government and private) in the interest of the health and safety of the students." "The assessment for rural and urban areas of the concerned districts may be carried out separately," it added.
Haryana's Jind recorded its Air Quality Index (AQI) in the 'severe' category on Saturday, while several other parts of the state recorded their air quality in the 'very poor' and 'poor' zones.
The AQI was 410 in Jind, 392 in Bhiwani, 383 in Bahadurgarh, 357 in Panipat, 321 in Kaithal, 309 in Rohtak, 297 each in Charkhi Dadri and Gurugram, 289 in Kurukshetra, 285 in Karnal, 227 in Panchkula and 209 in Ambala.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', 401 and 450 'severe' and above 450 'severe plus'.
Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana after harvesting the paddy crop in October and November is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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