Delhi orders 50% attendance in govt & private offices, work-from-home as AQI hovers close to ‘severe’

All Delhi government offices and private establishments have been directed to operate with 50% staff on-site, with the remaining employees working from home, as part of GRAP Stage 3 measures triggered by the worsening air quality in the Capital. The order, which was released on Monday, 24 November, comes amid the degrading air quality in Delhi, with the AQI hovering close to the ‘severe’ mark. 15 monitoring stations logged readings beyond the 400-mark, as per CPCB.

The direction was issued by the Environment Department under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to all Delhi government offices and private establishments operating in the national capital.

What does the order state?

As per the order, all administrative secretaries and heads of departments will attend office regularly, with not more than 50% of the staff physically present in the office. The remaining employees will work from home, it said.

All private offices functioning within Delhi will operate with not more than 50 per cent staff physically attending the workplace. The remaining staff will "mandatorily" work from home.

Which departments are exempted?

The following departments are exempted from the directions:

• Hospitals and other public, private health establishments, Fire Services,
• Prisons, Public Transport, Electricity, Water, Sanitation and related municipal services,
• Disaster management and related services, forest, environment, department, or agencies engaged in air pollution control, monitoring and enforcement activities (like teams deployed to curb biomass burning, dust control, GRAP measures)

Delhi AQI today

Delhi’s air quality continued to remain grim on Monday – with the overall AQI settling at 382 – in the ‘very poor’ category for the 11th consecutive day.

As per CPCB standards, an AQI between 0–50 is 'good', 51–100 'satisfactory', 101–200 'moderate', 201–300 'poor', 301–400 'very poor' and 401–500 'severe'.

Recent CPCB data shows little relief over the past week: the AQI was 391 on Sunday, 370 on Saturday, 374 on Friday, 391 on Thursday, 392 on Wednesday, 374 on Tuesday, and 351 last Monday, 17 November.

The CPCB’s Sameer app, which displays real-time readings from all monitoring stations across Delhi, showed that out of 38 operational stations, 15 recorded an AQI of above 400 on Monday.

Which stations recorded ‘severe’ AQI?

The following stations, among others, recorded an AQI of above 400:

• ITO,
• Punjabi Bagh,
• Patparganj,
• Ashok Vihar,
• Sonia Vihar,
• Rohini,
• Vivek Vihar,
• Narela,
• Bawana

Vehicular emission, stubble burning: What is contributing to the pollution?

The Decision Support System (DSS) of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, estimated that vehicular emissions contributed 21.6 % to Delhi’s pollution on Monday, making it the highest pollutant source, while stubble burning accounted for 1.8%, reported PTI.