From January 1: Noida to alter work hours of offices and shops, timings of schools

He also said that a study was conducted by the environment department on the scheme. “The study showed that this move will bring down vehicular congestion by 20 per cent and, hence, lead to an overall reduction in pollution levels by 30-40 per cent,” he said. Singh added that the administration will watch the effects of the scheme for a month before altering or expanding the measure.

Under the new measure, weekly holidays have been altered for shops and commercial establishments. For instance, sectors 10, 62, 64, 87 will have a holiday on Saturday while another area comprising sectors 1, 3, 15, 16, 57,68, 80, 90, Baroli, Nithari, Morana will have their weekly holiday on Monday.

For industries in Noida, the working hours have been altered in order to reduce vehicular congestion. While factories in Sector 1 to 6 will operate from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm, sectors 7 to 11 will function from 9 am to 6 pm.

Weekly holidays in these factories have also been altered accordingly.

The administration has also altered school timings — reducing or increasing it by 15 to 20 minutes — as part of the scheme.

For instance, the new timing of Somerville Public School is from 8.15 am to 2.15 pm as opposed to the current timing — 8 am to 2 pm. Cambridge Public School, on the other hand, will function from 8.30 am to 2.30 pm against its present timing — 8 am to 2 pm.

While the local administration said the concept came up during discussions with various stakeholders on the issue of pollution, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in June had suggested variable office hours for government and private sectors in Delhi.

Urging the Centre to adopt innovative measures to tackle air pollution, the NGT had said, “Variable working hours could be a solution. Courts and government offices in Delhi open at 10 am. If we have a gap of one or two hours, this will help to reduce vehicular emission immensely.