Can’t change school sports calendar solely for bad air in winter, govt tells HC

New Delhi: Delhi govt recently informed the high court that it was averse to changing the annual school sports calendar to prohibit outdoor sporting events during the winter months solely on the ground of deteriorating air quality.It submitted that govt had to factor in practical and logistical considerations involving thousands of students for whom trials and coaching camps were held during this period, from Nov to Jan.
Delhi govt's counsel contended that imposing a blanket ban on outdoor sports during the winter months would not be feasible given the scale of operations and scheduling constraints.The high court was hearing a contempt plea filed by a group of school students who claimed that, despite an HC order, govt continued to hold sport-ing events when Delhi's air quality frequently fell into the "severe" and "hazardous" categories. The court acknowledged the constraints within which Directorate of Education operates and pointed out it could not decide how or when the annual sports calendar was drawn up by the administration.The court also clarified that the earlier remarks made in Nov 2025 were not binding directions but merely a request that authorities make an "endeavour" to address the issue."The court understands that they are children. The department also understands… they have some difficulty and cannot redo it for some reason. We can adjust the decision taken, but we cannot take the decision," the high court orally observed, as it listed the matter for March.In their plea, the children have sought a direction to ensure that tournaments and trials for outdoor sports are not scheduled in the city during the peak pollution months of Nov to Jan and are held during a safer time when air quality is better.The minors, who filed the petition through their parents, said they activ-ely participated in state-scheduled spo-rts tournaments, camps and trials in Delhi and other parts of the country. The plea said year after year, authorities continued to conduct these outdoor sporting events at a time when Delhi's air quality was verifiably and foreseeably "severe" and "hazardous".