Heavy Pollution Shuts Schools In Iran's Capital

(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Heavy pollution shuts schools in Iran's capital

TEHRAN, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Nov, 2016 ) - Tehran officials shut schools on Monday as the first of the winter season's heavy pollution hit the Iranian capital. A blanket of choking brown-white smog descended on the city on Sunday, blocking out the view of the mountains that line its northern edge and leading many of its 14 million residents to retreat indoors or don face masks in the street.

The level of the deadliest PM2.5 particles hit 156 on Monday -- more than three times the level considered safe by the World Health Organisation.

"Kindergartens and Primary schools are closed on Monday in Tehran and most of the cities of the province," the Ministry of education announced, according to official agency Irna.

Officials extended traffic restrictions that alternate cars with odd and even licence plates in two central parts of the city, and deployed ambulances to wait in the busiest and dirtiest areas. Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf rode the metro to work on Sunday in a bid to encourage people to use public transport.