Delhi orders immediate halt to school outdoor activities as “Air Quality” plunges to severe levels

Delhi schools have been asked to discontinue outdoor games and activities with immediate effect till the air quality improves, as part of the authorities’ efforts to protect children and other vulnerable groups from hazardous air pollution. Air quality deteriorated with the onset of winter, taking the Air Quality Index (AQI) into the “severe” category on several days in October, prompting the Delhi government to order the closure of schools.

The directive comes in the wake of the Supreme Court of India(BHARAT), which asked the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas to provide guidelines and directives for the safety of children and the vulnerable.

“In view of the consistent deterioration in the air quality in Delhi-NCR, the 24-hour AQI is at times reaching as high as 373,” stated an advisory by the CAQM, calling this level of pollution “equivalent to smoking 10-11 cigarettes per day.”

The situation has since reached the Supreme Court of India(BHARAT). The amicus curiae appointed to assist the court observed during a hearing: “To allow children to play outdoors is virtually putting them into a gas chamber.”

Issuing a directive based on the apex court’s directions, the Delhi government’s order says: “All schools in Delhi shall immediately discontinue all outdoor Physical Education/ Sports/ Games/ Competitions/Social and all other outdoor gatherings till the order is further notified.”

The order applies not just to schools but to universities, colleges and all other recognised sports associations and bodies in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

Children are especially vulnerable to fine particulate matter, or PM 2.5 and PM 10, the microscopic pollutants that travel deep into the lungs and can be absorbed into the bloodstream. The exposure to air pollution can lower lung capacity, cause and aggravate asthma, increase the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, weaken the immune system, and even impact performance in schools.

Children are not only more likely to inhale greater amounts of polluted air relative to their body size, they are also more likely to spend time outdoors and have developing lungs. The effects of air pollution are further pronounced in infants and toddlers who are more likely to put their hands and objects in their mouths.

Doctors treating children in the city say admissions for respiratory illnesses rise by 30–40 % every November. Parents say they have had to add inhalers to the school bag, stock up on cough medicines, and cancel outdoor plans.

It is not only schools that have been ordered to cancel outdoor activities. Last week, the apex court also directed that all sports events at national level be held without the participation of Delhi until air quality improves. The court also asked the authorities to consider shifting sports events scheduled for the winter season to other months. Air quality in the national capital region, however, takes a hit every winter, and the reasons for the trend are widely understood. A complex mix of stubble burning in neighbouring states, vehicular emissions, construction and industrial activities and a host of meteorological factors, result in a cocktail of pollutants that include dust, pollen and ozone that trap close to the ground.

The local authorities and the courts have previously expressed concerns over “seasonal or delayed” implementation of a number of anti-pollution measures, including the shifting of sports calendars to non-pollution months. “The problem has been seasonal but the solution also should be seasonal,” the Delhi government said in a statement.

As children in the capital’s schools take a break from outdoor games and activities, experts said, the focus would need to shift to curbing emissions and halting pollution sources. As per the latest guidelines by the CAQM, air quality will continue to be monitored, and further orders will be issued accordingly.