Delhi Government Implements 50% Work-from-Home Policy Due to Severe Pollution

Delhi Government Implements 50% Work-from-Home Policy Due to Severe Pollution

The Delhi government has announced that half of its staff will work from home today as the city struggles with high air pollution. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in many parts of Delhi-NCR is over 450, considered "severe." This has triggered Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), the strictest set of measures to deal with dangerous pollution.

Delhi's Environment Minister, Gopal Rai, said, *"To reduce pollution, the government has decided that 50% of staff in government offices will work from home. A meeting to discuss this will be held at 1 PM today at the Secretariat."*

Earlier, The government introduced staggered office timings for its employees and those of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). 

Restrictions have also been placed on older vehicles. BS-IV and older diesel medium and heavy goods vehicles (MGVs and HGVs) registered in Delhi are banned, except for essential services. The same ban applies to BS-III petrol vehicles.

To protect students, schools for Classes 10 to 12 have been closed temporarily.

Last year, the Delhi government worked with IIT Kanpur to look into cloud seeding as a way to combat pollution. Preparations for this year's operations started in August, but a meeting about it is still pending.

प्रदुषण कम करने के लिए दिल्ली सरकार ने सरकारी दफ़्तरो में वर्क फ्रॉम होम का लिया निर्णय

50% कर्मचारी करेंगे घर से काम

इसके इम्पलिमेंटेशन के लिए सचिवालय में आज दोपहर 1 बजे अधिकारियों के साथ होगी बैठक

— Gopal Rai (@AapKaGopalRai) November 20, 2024