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.
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.
Top officials of the environment ministry, Delhi Development Authority and municipal commissioners also stayed away from the deliberations.
A high-level meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, also decided to enforce the restrictions date-wise as even numbered cars will be allowed to ply on even dates and odd-numbered ones will ply on odd dates.
Acentral panel directed authorities to ban the plying of 4-wheeled diesel LMVs in Delhi and adjoining NCR districts and the entry of trucks into the capital.
Noting the pendency of issues related to firecrackers before the Supreme Court, the Delhi high court on Thursday refused to entertain a petition challenging Delhi Pollution Control Committee's complete ban on sale and use of all kinds of firecrackers.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde passed the order while considering the Centre's stand that it is coming out with a comprehensive legislation to deal with air pollution, including the aspect of stubble burning.
Cracking the whip on those polluting Yamuna, the National Green Tribunal on Tuesday passed a slew of directions including a fine of Rs 5,000 on individuals spotted throwing waste or religious items in the river as it unveiled a plan for its restoration.
Based on his '12 years of Yamuna activism', he hit out at people 'who believe' that the river can be revived by 'keeping it untouchable'.
Delhi Pollution Control Committee has asked water & electricity providers to cut supply
'The answer is no, the entire country's is.' 'So why such obsession with Delhi?' 'But the most powerful people in India live here: The prime minister, civil servants, Supreme Court judges, MPs, diplomats, dadas of the media...' 'If they can't deal with their own problem, what chance does the rest of the country have, with its foul air, dying rivers, frothing lakes, and crumbling mountains?' says Shekhar Gupta.
Authorities alerted people to avoid staying outdoors and L-G ordered to halt all civil construction activities across the city till Sunday.
With CPCB saying that the air quality is not severe now, the SC partially lifted its ban.
The 24-metre-high air purifier recorded a PM2.5 concentration of 642 micrograms per cubic metre at the inlet and 453 micrograms per cubic metre at the outlet.
Over 17,000 schools running under the three municipal corporations of Delhi were closed on Saturday due to heavy smog that has already caused a spike in cases of asthma, allergy and breathlessness
The Supreme Court on Friday said that crop residue burning in Punjab and some other states adjacent to Delhi have to be stopped and solution has to found to reduce the pollution level in the national capital region (NCR).
The top court did some tough-talking and had warned that the administration at large will be made accountable even if there is a single incident of stubble burning henceforth.
The national capital woke up on Tuesday morning to 'severe' air quality under a blanket of thick haze, as pollution levels breached the permissible standards by multiple times.
During a hearing on Friday, the bench noted that Mumbai was witnessing a decline in the bursting of firecrackers.
The rotation policy followed by the BCCI and the travel route for the visiting team forced the BCCI to schedule the first match of the tour in Delhi
The enormous dump -- estimated to be as high as a 15-storey building -- looms like a dark mountain on the side of NH24, a busy highway that connects Delhi to Uttar Pradesh.
The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday directed the principal committee, constituted for rejuvenation of Yamuna, to inspect the site on river floodplains where a three-day festival was organised by Art of Living under the patronage of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
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.'
The NGT directed the Delhi govt not to implement the scheme unless it established that it was not counter-productive.
The redevelopment project of the Central Vista -- the power corridor of the country -- envisages a new triangular Parliament building, a Common Central Secretariat and the revamping of the three-km-long Rajpath from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate and new residences for the prime minister and the vice president.
The Delhi government will identify single-use plastic littering hotspots and the entry points of such items into water bodies and drains by October 31 this year, according to a draft action plan for the elimination of the environmentally hazardous products.
The International Cricket Council is likely to incorporate air pollution in its 'Playing Conditions' clause, having taken a serious note of the plight of Sri Lankan cricketers during the recently-concluded Test match against India in New Delhi.
A Central Pollution Control Board official said the AQI entered the "severe plus" or "emergency" category late on Thursday night, the first time since January this year.
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.
A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the carmaker to deposit the amount within two months.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked all the states to explain within six weeks as to why they should not be made liable to pay compensation to persons affected by bad air quality saying it is their bounden duty to provide basic civic amenities, clean air and drinking water to citizens.
Why has Sushant Jain, the owner of Ghantewala, the famous sweet shop in Delhi's Chandni Chowk, sent Yash Raj a legal notice?
While the numbers of fresh COVID cases and active cases are going up, the administration is focussing on testing, contact-tracing and treatment.
A parliamentary panel has noted that Yamuna river seems "dirtier" than before despite Rs 6,500 crore having been spent on its clean-up even as a project to lay interceptor sewers along the three major drains of Delhi suffers delays.
The party had also decided to ask Congress workers to contribute Rs 250 annually to the party.
The water resources ministry told the NGT panel it has not granted permission for 'World Cultural Festival' being organised by Art of Living foundation.
The NGT, however, refused to impose any further environment compensation on the AoL.
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.
'Visiting my friend in his affluent locality, I realised that the Delhi weather had become the great equaliser.' 'Pollution was always in the air, everywhere, and had become the primary subject of all conversations,' notes Ambassador B S Prakash.
The green tribunal noted that the Art of Living would have to pay a Rs 5 crore penalty and develop the entire area into a biodiversity zone.
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