With the imposition of Stage-IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) from Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi announced that physical classes will be discontinued for all students, apart from those in Class 10 and 12. "All schools will hold online classes, until further orders," Atishi said in a tweet on Sunday.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked measures under Stage-IV (‘Severe+’ Air Quality) after a meeting of the Sub-Committee on Sunday. The emergency meeting was convened to address the alarming rise in pollution levels, attributed to unfavourable meteorological conditions in Delhi-NCR.

With the imposition of GRAP-4 from tmrw, physical classes shall be discontinued for all students, apart from Class 10 and 12. All schools will hold online classes, until further orders.

— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) November 17, 2024

As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Daily AQI Bulletin, Delhi's daily average Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 441 at 4 p.m. on Sunday and rose to 457 by 7 p.m. The Sub-Committee, after reviewing forecasts provided by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), noted the worsening trend in AQI readings. At 6 p.m., the AQI clocked 452 and further escalated to 457 an hour later.