Noida: All schools in Noida and Greater Noida were Thursday asked to hold online classes for students up to Class 8 till November 8 in view of increasing pollution in the national Capital Region, according to an official order.
The schools have also been told to hold classes for students of Class 9 to 12 online as far as possible, said the order issued by Gautam Buddh Nagar's District Inspector of Schools (DIOS) Dharmveer Singh.
Outdoor activities like sports or meetings will stay completely banned in all schools, the order further stated.
"All schools have been asked to move to online medium for teaching students up to Class 8. They have been asked to switch to the online mode for students of Class 9 to 12 also to the extent possible," Singh said.
"However, no outdoor activities like sports in schools are allowed till November 8," the DIOS said.
Gautam Buddh Nagar has around 1,800 schools including higher education centres, spread across Noida and Greater Noida, as on date, the officer said.
Meanwhile, violation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) led to fines totalling Rs 4.25 lakh on more than a dozen offenders in Noida on Thursday, the local authority said.
"Fourteen cases of keeping construction material in the open and violating the rules related to air pollution were found and a fine of Rs 4.20 lakh has been imposed," the Noida Authority said.
"A fine of Rs 5,000 was imposed by the Public Health Department in one case of littering. Thus, today a total
fine of Rs 4.25 lakh was imposed in various cases of violation of the provisions of GRAP," it added.