50% Delhi Govt Employees to Work from Home Amid Severe Air Pollution: Gopal Rai

50% Delhi Govt Employees to Work from Home: In light of the alarming rise in pollution levels in the capital, the Delhi government under the Aam Aadmi Party has ordered 50% of government employees to work from home.

"To reduce pollution, the Delhi government decided to implement work from home in government offices. 50 per cent of employees will work from home. For its implementation, a meeting will be held with the officials at 1 pm today in the Secretariat," Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said in a post on X.

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

Delhi’s average air quality index turned out to be 424, which is categorized as “severe” as of 9 am on Wednesday, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reported. While the previous day at four pm, it was measured at 460, which also falls in the “severe” zone.

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Following the trend of malady in Delhi, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday announced the phased introduction of working hours for government offices.

As per the new arrangement, the Members of the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will observe different hours. MCD hours are from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM while the Delhi government’s hours are from 10:00 AM to 6:30 PM. This arrangement will remain until 28 February 2025.

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Due to the worrying levels of the AQI, the Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), which is the latter stage of interventions has been initiated. This includes the restriction of entry for trucks except those carrying essential goods or using Liquefied natural gas, Compressed natural gas, and BS-VI diesel or electric trucks. Other light commercial vehicles from outside the city are not allowed entry in the city unless their fuel is electric or other approved fuels. Moreover, all the on-going works of construction related to public works have been suspended.

On Tuesday, Gopal Rai, wrote to the union government asking for permission to use cloud seeding in the National Capital Region. He also requested the Center to organize a meeting with specialists from IIT Kanpur and pertinent Central agencies regarding the matter.

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