The Centre directed Uttar Pradesh and Bihar on Sunday to prevent dumping of dead bodies in the Ganga and its tributaries, and focus on their safe disposal and a dignified cremation after corpses were seen floating in these rivers following a spurt in the number of coronavirus cases.
Pollution levels in Delhi during the Diwali period are likely to remain in the higher end of the 'very poor' category in the absence of emissions due to fireworks, the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR said.
NHRC issues notices to Centre and governments of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, saying 'the state cannot leave its citizens to die due to the toxic haze.'
In its petition, PETA has contended that manja posed a grave threat to humans and animals as every year a number of deaths are caused by it.
The Sterlite Copper Smelter unit in Tuticorin, which was shut down over two months ago, has resumed operations after the National Green Tribunal's expert panel gave a green signal.
As many as 753 violators of the odd-even scheme were challaned on Monday, the 11th day of the car-rationing measure's implementation in New Delhi.
The CPCB said reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 levels primarily indicate depletion in combustion and industrial sources of pollution which are common to both fractions of particulate matter.
Thirteen cities of the country had an average Air Quality Index above 400, which falls in "severe" category, with seven of them in Uttar Pradesh, five in Haryana and one in Bihar, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.
However, the company has claimed its vehicles are 'compliant' with the country's emission norms and that it will 'challenge' the tribunal's order.
Violation of the provisions entails a punishment of a jail term of up to five years or with fine up to Rs one crore or with both.
Sanitation is always clubbed with other departments, which lead to its neglect, says Devanik Saha.
The air quality in Delhi remained poor Sunday with drop in wind speed even as authorities predicted further fall in air quality index of the national capital in the coming days.
The national capital on Friday recorded a 24-hour average air quality index of 239. On Thursday, it was 315, the worst since February 12 when the AQI was 320.
The NGT has asked the Centre to respond to the plea of an environment enthusiast alleging that large-scale burning of municipal solid waste in Agra was turning the Taj Mahal yellow.
The NGT, while banning the manja last year, said the string, coated with glass and metal powder, poses a threat to the environment.
The appointments committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared Bhalla's appointment as OSD in the ministry with immediate effect.
A bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, set up a five-member Committee to probe Thursday's gas leak incident in the chemical factory, in which 11 people were killed and 1,000 exposed, and submit a report before May 18.
According to SAFAR, both stubble burning in surrounding states of Delhi and firecrackers are causing deterioration of air quality in the national capital.
The issue of pollution caused due to the non-degradable material is keeping consumer goods majors - from ITC and Dabur to Nestl and PepsiCo - on their toes.
With the Government actively looking for ways to check pollution in river Ganga, Union Water Resource Minister Uma Bharti on Monday said immersion of mortal remains would not be allowed on the banks of the holy river.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta also directed the Delhi government and the Central Pollution Control Board to place before it the data of pollution in Delhi from October till November 14 this year. The bench also directed them to submit pollution data from October 1 to December 31, 2018.
Welcoming the reduction in pollution, environmentalists urged the government to treat it as a "wake-up call" and stop its "obsession" with "development" at the cost of the environment.
The lion's share of the amount -- Rs 1,003 crore (till November 10) -- comes from an Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) imposed by the Supreme Court in 2015 on trucks entering Delhi while the rest is made up of cess on every litre of diesel sold, in effect since 2008.
Delhi's overall air quality index (AQI) stood at 463 at 11.30 am, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).
Delhi recorded an air quality index of 315 at 11:10 am. The last time the air quality hit such a poor level was in February.
The green panel said that innocent people drank and bathed in the river with reverence, without knowing that it may adversely affect their health.
Retailers, especially food and grocery chains, are clearly unhappy, saying the ban is impractical
The weatherman has predicted rainfall throughout the day with the mercury settling at 19C.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the 24-hour average concentration of lung-damaging fine particles known as PM2.5 in Delhi-NCR shot up from 243 micrograms per cubic metre at 6 pm on Thursday (Diwali day) to 410 micrograms per cubic metre at 9 am on Friday, around seven times the safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre.
The Centre on Monday earmarked a separate Rs 2,217 crore for 42 urban centres to tackle air pollution and announced the much-awaited voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and polluting vehicles, even as it shrunk the budgetary allocation for the environment ministry from the last fiscal by nearly eight percent. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech for 2021-22, announced a total of Rs 2869.93 crore for the ministry, Rs 230 crore less than the last fiscal. Officials said the outlay has been lesser this time as the economy is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
For deciding which vehicles are to be scrapped, the setting up of fitness centres and regulating them would be a humongous task.
Delhi woke up to the season's worst air quality as smoke from Diwali fireworks, coupled with moisture and nearly stagnant wind movement, shrouded the city in a thick cover of smog with respirable pollutants reaching perilous levels.
The nationwide 'Janta Curfew' followed by the 21-day lockdown to combat the coronavirus outbreak have led to a significant reduction in pollution in the country, with 91 cities recording air quality in the 'good' and 'satisfactory' category on March 29, a Central Pollution Control Board report has stated. Travel restrictions and the closure of industries have helped reduce the pollution level, it said.
Gas affected areas in Bhopal are still bereft of basic amenities.
'The present government swears by Hinduism. But we lost three of our sants during earlier BJP regimes.'
It is believed that the crop residue burning in the nearby states of Punjab and Haryana are contributing to polluting the air.
Pollution levels were inching towards 'severe plus emergency' category due to a change in wind direction and rampant stubble burning in neighbouring states
The dense cover of grey haze shrouding Delhi for almost a week, reminiscent of the 1952 Great Smog in London, plunged the city's air quality to the season's worst.
The problem is so severe that multiple agencies have issued several precautionary measures.
Agarwal was admitted to hospital on Wednesday after he even gave up drinking water.
