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The Railway Board has announced staggered work timings for its employees in the Delhi-NCR region due to increased air pollution, following the Central Government's directive.
The Board has also advised its officers and staff to carpool when using personal vehicles. "Owing to hazardous air quality levels in Delhi NCR area, DoP&T (Department of Personnel and Training) has advised to adopt the following measures in respect of Officers located in Delhi/NCR," the Board said in an order on Friday. In view of implementing the Graded Action Response Plan (GRAP), stage 4, the Railway Board will be observing staggered timings from 9 AM to 5:30 AM and 10 AM to 6:30 AM. The Board has also requested Assistant Managers (AMs), Principal Executive Directors (PEDs) and Executive Directors (EDs) to adopt these measures as per their "functional requirements." "All AMs/PEDs/EDs in Board's Office are requested to adopt these measures as per their functional requirements ensuring that it should not have an adverse impact on efficiency and productivity in any manner," it added. The air quality in the national capital was recorded at 'severe plus on November 19, with it being recorded at 488 at 8 AM. Today, the Air Quality was recorded at 371, placing it in the 'very poor' category. However, several places in Delhi are still in the 'severe' category for air pollution, with Anand Vihar recording an AQI of 410, Bawana at 411, Mundka at 402, and Wazirpur at 413. An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor and 401-500 is severe. Many residents have also complained of the pollution in the region, with the number of people coming out for morning walks being reduced too. "The pollution situation in Delhi is very bad. It is unfortunate. Schools have started online classes. The number of people coming for morning walks has also reduced. Eyes are burning," said Suryakant, a walker. Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi called the air pollution in northern India as a "national emergency." Taking to social media platform X, the MP highlighted that the situation was a "public health crisis" affecting the entire region, "stealing children's future" and "suffocating the elderly." (ANI)
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