New Delhi, November 24: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday announced that schools, colleges and educational institutions in the national capital will re-open from November 29 as the air quality in the national capital is improving.

Addressing the media after a high-level meeting with officials over the air pollution situation in Delhi, Rai said, "We have decided to allow the entry of all CNG, electric vehicles into Delhi from November 27. The entry of all other vehicles to remain banned till December 3." "Schools, colleges and educational institutions will re-open from November 29 in Delhi," the Minister said.

To tackle increasing air pollution levels in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on November 13 had announced a 'pollution lockdown' under which the schools were closed for physical classes for a week. Classes, however, continued through online mediums. Air Pollution in Delhi-NCR: Don't Wait for Air Quality to Become Severe, Take Advance Measures, Says SC.

The Delhi government had, earlier on Monday, lifted the ban on construction and demolition activities in view of an improvement in the air quality.

The air quality in the national capital significantly improved from the "very poor" to the "poor" category on Wednesday for the first time in the last 10 days, as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting & Research (SAFAR). The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 280 today.

As per the SAFAR, the PM 10 levels were recorded at 58 in the 'satisfactory' category and PM 2.5 levels were recorded at 38 in the 'satisfactory' category.

The air pollution level in the National Capital Region (NCR) fluctuated between "very poor" and "poor". Gurugram and Noida recorded AQI of 283 and 303 in the "poor" and "very poor" categories on Wednesday morning.

According to the SAFAR bulletin, from November 27 onwards local surface winds are likely to increase which will result in improvement of air quality.

The share of stubble burning to Delhi's PM2.5 is 3 per cent and the effective fire count is 770.

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