SC asks government to close all classes in Delhi-NCR and shift to online mode

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All schools in Delhi-NCR will be shifted to online mode due to hazardous air pollution levels. The move came into effect after the Supreme Court asked governments to close all school till further order.

Delhi Pollution: SC asks government to close all classes in Delhi-NCR and shift to online mode

New Delhi: In a significant development amid the deteriorating air quality in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the governments in Delhi and NCR to suspend all physical classes for students up to Class 12. Schools will remain closed until further notice due to the acute air pollution affecting the region. The court also instructed educational institutions to switch to online classes as a precautionary measure against the toxic air pollution levels that could harm students’ health.

The Apex Court questioned the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and the Delhi government over the delay caused in implementing preventive measures under GRAP stages.

Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih, forming a judging panel, laid down the judgement. This came after Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan pointed out the need for students of 10th and 12th grade to be physically present in the classrooms.

“All States (in Delhi NCR) should take an immediate call to stop physical classes of all standards upto class 12,” the Court said.

The Top Court further called for strict implementation of GRAP Stage IV to curb the pollution as Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) remains in the “severe” category.

The Court has shown dissatisfaction with the sluggish actions in implementing stages III and IV of GRAP. It highlighted that the decision of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to delay actions until the AQI levels improve is a breach of the Court’s 2018 instructions, which demanded the execution of preventive actions.

“From submissions made at the bar, we find that the approach adopted by the subcommittee of the commission is contrary to para 3 of the October 29, 2018 order which directed preventive steps. The approach adopted by the Commission seems to be that it waited for AQI to improve thus delaying the implementation of stages 3 and 4 which is a wrong approach. The Commission cannot wait for the improvement of AQI,” the Court said.

During the hearing, the Central and all State governments were also directed to submit compliance affidavits by November 21.

The matter has been listed in the court for further hearing on November 22 when the court examines compliance with its order.

“We shall examine compliance to our order then. It is the constitutional obligation of States and Centre that citizens live in pollution free environment and thus apart from all clauses of stage 3 and 4, let all steps be taken by the government to ensure that the situation normalizes,” the Court said in its order.

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