The central government has told the Supreme Court of India that it is not in favor of asking employees to work from home despite the rise in pollution levels in the national capital. Instead, it has advised its employees to resort to carpooling to reduce the number of vehicles they use for commuting.
It said that the vehicles used by the central government constitute a small part of the total vehicles in Delhi and their stoppage will not have much impact towards the improvement of Delhi’s air quality. In the last hearing, the top court had asked the Center and the Delhi government to consider work from home for at least a week.
Delhi is facing a serious crisis Pollution problems and air quality remains in the “very poor” category. The air quality index of the city was recorded at 389 at 9 am. It had slipped into the severe zone on Tuesday and 403 was recorded at 4 pm.
Faridabad (350), Ghaziabad (368), Greater Noida (358), Gurugram (354), and Noida (369) also recorded their air quality in the very poor category.
Delhi Transport Minister Ashok Gehlot has said that the problem of pollution is not Delhi-centric, it is related to NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and other nearby states. Concrete steps should be taken by them.
stubble burning, vehicular pollutionSmoke from industries are some of the important factors which have damaged the pollution level of Delhi.
Yesterday, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR and adjoining areas issued directions like ban on construction work, closure of public schools, work from home, among other measures to control air pollution in the region.
At present, all educational institutions in the Delhi-NCR region have been closed till further orders. Construction activities and demolition activities have also been stopped till November 21. Trucks carrying non-essential goods have been banned from entering Delhi till November 21.
There has been an increase in the number of patients of respiratory diseases in Delhi hospitals. Suresh Kumar, Medical Director of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, told ANI news agency that 10-15 people including children with such ailments are reporting to the hospital on a daily basis.
This week, the Supreme Court slammed both the Center and the Delhi government for not taking the pollution problem seriously. The Supreme Court has termed the rising air pollution in Delhi-NCR as an ’emergency’. A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana said the pollution situation is so bad that people are wearing masks inside their homes.
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