The monthly Rs 2500 payment for poor women is expected to cost Rs 11,000 crore while the pension scheme of Rs 2000 for every senior citizen will cost around Rs 4100 crore. The Yamuna clean up will cost over Rs 10,000 crore while a similar amount is required to upgrade Delhi's hospitals. Ultimately, the new BJP government will have no choice but to ask the centre for financial support, notes Rashme Sehgal.
Gaps in enforcement, limited monitoring, and easy access to firecrackers from the NCR region where restrictions were slack were largely responsible for the widespread flouting of the cracker ban in Delhi on Diwali, experts have opined.
The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (469), Greater Noida (464), Ghaziabad (470), Gurgaon (472) also recorded 'severe' air pollution levels.
Tilak Varma smashed an unbeaten half-century to steer India to a thrilling two-wicket victory against England in Chennai on Saturday.
Usman Khawaja made the comparison with India when asked about the challenge of competing in thick smog.
The SC questioned the Delhi government over delay in implementation of stricter anti-pollution measures under GRAP-4, and said it will not allow scaling down of the preventive measures without its prior permission.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanulllah and Augustine George Masih said the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act of 2021 (CAQM Act) was enacted without creating required machinery for implementing the provision to curb air pollution.
Curbs under Stage III include a ban on non-essential construction and demolition, closure of stone crushers and mining activities in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).
Delhi's air quality plummeted to alarming levels on Tuesday after 24 days, with many areas witnessing a significant spike in pollution despite the strictest measures, including a ban on construction activities and the entry of trucks into the city, coming into force.
'Many of these patients arrive at emergency departments in distress, struggling to breathe and requiring immediate medical intervention.'
Delhiites woke up on Thursday to a thick envelope of smog as air quality in the national capital and in adjoining regions, dipped into severe category again.
A cold wave has gripped many parts of north and east India, with Srinagar recording a minimum temperature of minus 5.3 degrees Celsius. Other areas experiencing below-freezing temperatures include Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Konibal, Qazigund, Kupwara, and Kokernag in Kashmir. Himachal Pradesh has issued an orange warning for severe cold wave conditions in several districts. Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 5.9 degrees Celsius, while Faridkot in Punjab was the coldest in the region at 0 degrees Celsius. Extreme cold conditions also continued in parts of Rajasthan and Jharkhand. The Met office has forecast mainly dry weather until December 26, with the possibility of light snowfall in the higher reaches of Kashmir on the intervening night of December 21-22.
Pollution levels spiked to severe levels in Delhi with thick haze blanketing the city on Tuesday, reducing visibility drastically and affecting flights and trains, prompting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to describe the national capital as a "gas chamber".
Some residents have already taken this step to relocate, either temporarily or permanently, some to their native places and others to clean-air destinations like Goa and Himachal Pradesh.
Uncertainty looms over Lanka-Bangla World Cup clash due to severe air pollution
Plants like aloe vera, spider plant and neem act as the natural air filters.
Everybody seems to be expressing regret about the smog to everybody else in Beijing, observes Sheela Bhatt
'Our politicians solely depend on bureaucrats who are unaccountable and follow their own agenda.' 'Our politicians would dare not dream of establishing a DOGE,' argues Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Although each vehicle has become cleaner, air quality remains poor because of the drastic increase in the number of vehicles
Air pollution levels in New Delhi escalated to hazardous and visibility dropped significantly as a thick blanket of smog engulfed several parts of the city on Sunday morning.
An AQI of 400 or higher is deemed 'severe' and it can have an adverse effect on both healthy individuals and people who already have medical conditions.
On Friday, for the second day in a row, residents across Mumbai woke up to unusually thick smog in the air.
Pollution levels skyrocketed by the hour in Delhi on Sunday, turning the air quality hazardous, which agencies consider unfit for inhalation even by healthier people.
The court was informed that the commission for air quality management will start functioning from today.
The air quality in Delhi is turning worse, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.
'It is time to think up a policy of incentivising farmers in the states around Delhi.' 'Let's say a farmer is given an incentive for not burning his crop stubble and instead handing over the task of incinerating the crop stubble to a State-run-or-funded community initiative.' 'The incentive can take the form of, say, fertilisers, or even direct cash transfers,' recommends Somasekhar Sundaresan.
Keeping up his tradition of celebrating the festival with soldiers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sir Creek near the Indo-Pak border in Gujarat's Kutch district and offered sweets to jawans.
The fine particulate matter PM2.5 touched 304 micrograms per cubic metre on Saturday, which is regarded very unhealthy specially for people with heart and lung problems.
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.
With the skies over Delhi clouded with smog, many cast worried eyes on the fate of the first India-Bangladesh Twenty20 International scheduled at the Arun Jaitley stadium on Sunday.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the capital's smog and deteriorating air quality at a time when the Delhi government and the Centre bicker daily on other issues.
Parts of north China will see the worst smog so far this year the National Meteorological Centre said on Saturday.
Pollution levels in Delhi and satellite towns shot up again on Sunday morning, with the air quality bordering the 'severe plus' category at several places.
New Delhi's overall air quality index read 456 at 4 pm, up from 425 at 4 pm on Tuesday.
Some of the areas still gripped in the hazardous category of air quality index.
The meeting was focussed on air pollution and stubble burning.
The national capital is facing the worst smog in 17 years, the Centre for Science and Environment had said on Thursday.
Bollywood urges its followers to save the planet.
Firms are offering employees flexi hours; demand for air purifiers, masks have skyrocketed.
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