For deciding which vehicles are to be scrapped, the setting up of fitness centres and regulating them would be a humongous task.
The overall air quality index was recorded at 426 which falls in the 'severe' category, according to data by the Central Pollution Control Board.
Skies over Delhi hung heavy with smoke and its air quality inched towards "severe" category on Diwali night as people burst firecrackers in a blatant disregard to the government's ban against it, imposed amid an increase in the contribution from farm fires.
Despite the national capital recording its best air quality on Diwali day in eight years, pollution levels may rise due to low night temperatures and sporadic burning of firecrackers though there is a ban on their manufacture, storage, sale and use within the city.
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 top court observed that even in reserve forests, there are no concrete roads and the safari vehicles ply on forest roads.
Sanitation is always clubbed with other departments, which lead to its neglect, says Devanik Saha.
The smog reduced the visibility to merely 300 meters in the morning affecting traffic, an official of the India Meteorological Department said.
The air quality had turned 'severe' on Saturday evening with stubble burning accounting for 32 per cent of Delhi's PM2.5 pollution, but firecracker emissions and calm winds made the situation even worse.
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea by Skoda Auto Volkswagen India challenging an FIR registered in Uttar Pradesh by a customer over the alleged use of 'cheat device' in its diesel car by the company to manipulate emission norms.
As visibility remained poor and the city choked due to a haze, the Centre for Science and Environment asked the Delhi govt to roll out stringent plans for controlling winter pollution.
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.
The city also recorded a maximum temperature of 23.8 degrees Celsius, 16 notches below normal and the lowest in the month of May since 1951, the IMD said.
Mercury hovered around 40 degrees Celsius in large parts of the country on Monday as the Indian meteorological department predicted heat wave conditions in parts of east India over the next four days and the northwest region over the next two days.
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.
The NGT directed the Delhi govt not to implement the scheme unless it established that it was not counter-productive.
A city resident doesn't find Delhi to be livable anymore.
Govt has done away with the need to secure crucial permits.
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 neighbouring cities of Faridabad (469), Greater Noida (464), Ghaziabad (470), Gurgaon (472) also recorded 'severe' air pollution levels.
13 out of the world's 20 most polluted cities are in India. Most shockingly, the latest Central Pollution Control Board statistics reveal that the pollution levels in Gwalior, Raipur and even little known Kashipur are higher than that of Delhi which means we have some of the most polluted zones in the world.
People living in Delhi should be more concerned about pollution levels rather than hosting a cricket match, said former India opener Gautam Gambhir.
It is believed that the crop residue burning in the nearby states of Punjab and Haryana are contributing to polluting the air.
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.
According to SAFAR, both stubble burning in surrounding states of Delhi and firecrackers are causing deterioration of air quality in the national capital.
There is a proposal to term forests as areas so notified and not include plantations on private land.
Better living conditions must be an integral part of all political campaigns. But this will only happen if the public pressures the political class to understand the irreversibility of climate change and make the environment a crucial part of their manifestos.
Closure of tanneries pulls down domestic finished leather exports and local price of raw-skin.
The NGT, while banning the manja last year, said the string, coated with glass and metal powder, poses a threat to the environment.
While Delhi boasts of one of the best metro systems in the world and decent infrastructure, reckless construction, legalising unauthorised colonies, and the worsening water and air quality dent its image of being a robust cosmopolitan city.
The PM2.5 level (presence in the air of particles with a diametre of less than 2.5 micrometres) touched a new high at 158 as authorities predicted further deterioration of air quality in the coming days.
The tribunal also refused to give an urgent hearing on a fresh plea seeking stay on the three-day event on the banks of river Yamuna from Friday, alleging that AOL has not taken permissions from the competent authority as directed by the tribunal.
'Modi knows the people here are opposed to this project, but he is using the might of government to push this port down our throats.'
New Delhi's overall air quality index read 456 at 4 pm, up from 425 at 4 pm on Tuesday.
Gas affected areas in Bhopal are still bereft of basic amenities.
The green body's report said three of the world's largest nitrogen oxide air pollution emission hotspots that contribute to formation of PM2.5 and ozone are in India with one in the Delhi-NCR.
However, the company has claimed its vehicles are 'compliant' with the country's emission norms and that it will 'challenge' the tribunal's order.
Kejriwal announced the odd-even scheme as part of the seven-point 'Parali Pradushan' action plan that also includes mass distribution of anti-pollution masks, mechanised sweeping and water sprinkling on the roads, tree plantation, and special plans for 12 pollution hotspots in the city.
The weatherman has predicted rainfall throughout the day with the mercury settling at 19C.
The impact of the explosion "was so massive" that the factory, which was being run from a residential building, collapsed, the police said.
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