New Delhi, November 7: Indian Medical Association has appealed to Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia to stop all outdoor sports and other activities in schools due to hazardous levels of air pollution in the city.
Raising parking fees four times and reducing Delhi Metro fares in non-peak hours are some of the measures highlighted to tackle the crisis situation.
The EPCA instructed Delhi Metro to lower fares during off-peak hours for at least 10 days, and introduce more coaches and frequent services to accommodate the excess crowd.
The green body also instructed Delhi and neighbouring states Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana to introduce more buses to strengthen the public transport system.
In other measures, it directed a fine of Rs 50,000 on road construction agencies violating dust pollution norms in Delhi-NCR.
The panel also asked the Delhi-NCR governments to start preparing for measures like odd-even and ban construction activities if pollution aggravates.
The measures also include complete closure of brick kilns, hot mix plants and stone crushers across the region till further notice.
On Tuesday, Delhi woke up to extremely poor air quality as a thick haze blanketed the city. The pollution levels breached permissible standards by multiple times.
Meanwhile, the National Green Tribunal today pulled up the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments as the national capital reeled under heavy smog.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar criticized the state governments for not being prepared in advance to tackle the emergency situation.
It asked them to explain the reason as to why preventive and precautionary measures were not taken to control the severe air quality in the region as it was reported earlier that such a situation was likely to arise.