50% Delhi government employees to work from home due to air pollution, announces Gopal Rai
Half of the staff in Delhi government offices will work from home in view of the deteriorating air quality in the the national capital, environment minister Gopal Rai announced on Wednesday.
“To reduce pollution, Delhi government has decided to implement work from home in government offices. 50% of the staff in government offices will work from home,” Rai wrote on X.
“Implementation of the “provision will be discussed in a meeting with the officers later in the day,” he added.
Earlier, the Delhi government announced staggered office timings for its offices and the MCD. The timings of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) offices were fixed from 8.30 am to 5 pm, while that of Delhi government offices were 10 am to 6.30 pm.
The air quality in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) remains in “alarmingly high” levels, prompting concerns about health and safety.
Delhi logged a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 460 at 4pm on Tuesday, lower than the record 494 clocked on Monday, but still in the “severe-plus” classification. An AQI between 401 and 450 is classified as “severe” and 451 and 500 as “severe-plus”. The scale is capped at 500.
Experts stressed that such levels of pollutants expose people of all ages to a range of short- and long-term ailments.
The city’s AQI has been severe on six of the past seven days, as per the data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). It was 441 on Sunday, 417 on Monday, 396 on November 15, 424 on November 14 and 418 on November 13.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked stricter pollution control measures for the Delhi-NCR under Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan, or GRAP, that ban all constructions and allow schools to call off classes for most students.
Weather forecasters said there would be little respite for the city over at least the next three days, with surface-level winds unlikely to get stronger and disperse any of the accumulated pollutants that have gripped Delhi’s air for days now.