Delhi primary schools to be closed from Saturday due to pollution: Kejriwal
Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Nov, 2022 10:46 AM
New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS) Amid increasing pollution levels in Delhi, all primary schools in the national capital will be closed from Saturday onwards until the air quality improves, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Friday.
He made the announcement while addressing a joint presser here with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann.
Kejriwal also said that outdoor activities for all classes above class 5 will also be suspended.
He however, sought the Centre's leadership role to help curb the pollution which he termed as a "problem of the entire North India".
"The Central government can no longer lag behind. The Centre will have to lead it. The air quality situation is worsening from Bhiwandi in Rajasthan to Bettiah and Motihari in Bihar. It is the problem of entire North India. For this, we have to sit together and talk to find out the solution," Kejriwal said.
Meanwhile, schools in Noida have also decided to start online classes due to the deteriorating air quality.
As per orders of the District Collector, classes 1 to 8 of all schools will function in the online mode till November 8.
"As far as possible, classes 9 to 12 should also function in online mode and, until the next order, outdoor activities in all schools are prohibited," read the order.
Interacting with the mediapersons here, the Chief Minister, accompanied by his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, said the state government is working on a multi-pronged strategy and has already roped in agriculture experts and the farmers unions for working out a viable solution for this problem.
Around 810 km of metro line are operational in 20 cities in the country while more than 980 km of metro network and RRTS is currently under construction in 27 cities, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Puri said on Friday, adding India currently has the fifth-largest metro network in the world.
The ministers said according to the data till date many cities of Haryana are in the first 10 cities in the list of the most polluted cities in India, including Hisar, Faridabad, Sirsa, Rohtak, Sonepat and Bhiwani, etc., while from Punjab, no city is in the first 10.
Punjab Police chief Gaurav Yadav said local shopkeeper, Sandeep Singh Sunny, has been arrested for firing at and killing the Shiv Sena leader, while terming the incident as unfortunate.
Announcing the eye check-up camps here on Thursday, United Sikh Mission Chairman Rashpal Singh Dhindsa said this "mission for vision" is a selfless act of serving the community and this year, already seven camps have been organised in Ferozepur, Sangrur, Barnala, Kapurthala, Jalandhar and Mohali districts beginning October 15.
Those arrested have been identified as Gurwinder Singh, alias Mehak (27), Gursewak Singh, alias Sewak (25), and Manjit Singh, alias Soni (34). The trio, arrested from Gurdaspur, were actively involved in a high-level trans-border and inter-state drug smuggling.
