Shut schools in Delhi on bad air days, proposes Delhi dialogue commission

Did you know that India’s national capital New Delhi is right now suffering from deadly polluted air which can create massive health havoc very soon?

The ministry said the number of cities affected by heavy pollution had reached 23, stretching across 530,000 square km, but a cold front beginning on Wednesday would see the situation improve. In September this year, Greenpeace released a report which described New Delhi’s air pollution level is 10 times higher than that prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO).

The agency’s definition of hazardous specifies: ‘Serious aggravation of heart or lung disease and premature mortality in persons with cardiopulmonary disease and the elderly; serious risk of respiratory effects in general population’.

“What is the status of air pollution?”

He urged the federal government to difficulty well being advisories, as a number of individuals will endure from respiration points if the air high quality stays the identical. Bad air is also blamed for the growth in stress levels as well as non-communicable diseases, such as high blood pressure. Delhi government authorities, however, said this was an extreme step.

The Delhi Dialogue Commission started by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party will work with the Energy and Environment Lab at University of Chicago, Urban Labs and the Energy Policy Institute at University’s centre in Delhi to run and implement the project.

To lure startups into the environmental niche, AAP Govt. has announced a “seed fund” of Rs 2 crore for any startup which introduces a solid solution to bring down Delhi pollution.

The Delhi government has tied up with the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools for the initiative. To learn more about the challenge and submit an idea, the participants may visit urbanlabsdelhi.uchicago.in.

Representatives of the Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC) – a think tank of the Delhi government – Tuesday proposed that city schools be shut on poor air quality days, following Beijing’s example.

Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s (DPCC) real time monitoring showed PM 2.5 and PM 10 at 191 and 611 respectively while R K Puram had the corresponding figures at 220 and 458 at around 12.30 PM.