Delhi air pollution: Schools ordered to halt outdoor activities after Supreme Court order
All schools across Delhi have been ordered to halt outdoor activities due to 'life-threatening' air quality across the national capital following the Supreme Court's directive. On Friday morning, Delhi recorded a 24-hour average AQI of 370 at 9 am, as per the Sameer app.
More than 18 monitoring stations logged AQI above 400. These stations include Chandni Chowk, Anand Vihar, Mundka, Bawana, Narela, DTU and Wazirpur.
On November 19, the Supreme Court asked the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to direct the Delhi government to reschedule school sports competitions planned for November and December due to hazardous air pollution.
The top court bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran said that exposing children to outdoor activities during these two months "amounts to putting school children in a gas chamber".
It further directed that the Delhi air quality matter should be listed every month for continuous monitoring, noting that action cannot be taken only when pollution levels peak. Monthly hearings will be held to review action-taken reports from CAQM and the Environment Ministry.
During the hearing, senior advocate Aprajita Singh, acting as amicus curiae, said: "Children are most vulnerable. Holding sports now is like putting them in gas chambers."
Following this, CJI Gavai said: "We request CAQM to take this into consideration and issue necessary directions to shift such sport competition to safer months."
Moreover, Delhi High Court Justice Sachin Datta questioned why the Delhi government continued to schedule outdoor sports at this time, remarking that the children "should not take part in outdoor sports" between November and January.
Justice Datta added that authorities failed to safeguard children's health, noting the sports calendar should be revised to ensure that no sports activities are scheduled during the hazardous months.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Earth Sciences' Air Quality Early Warning System said that Delhi's air quality may slip into 'severe' and remain in the 'very poor' to 'severe' zone for the next 6 days due to stagnant winds and winter inversion.
Farmfires were also reported across various states such as Uttar Pradesh (115), Punjab (16), and Haryana (11) on Wednesday, enough to feed background pollution under stagnant winter conditions.
