Doctors have declared the situation as a 'public health emergency', while the government has taken a series of measures in view of high pollution levels.
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.
Experts said while meteorological conditions were "moderately" favourable for dispersion of pollutants, a "very high" number of farm fires in Punjab was the primary reason for "severe" air quality.
Govt has done away with the need to secure crucial permits.
The United States embassy's pollution monitor recorded 'hazardous' air quality with the index scoring an alarming 878, which the mission considers 'beyond its air quality index' (AQI), which ends at 500.
With CPCB saying that the air quality is not severe now, the SC partially lifted its ban.
The air quality in Delhi is turning worse, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to expand the eight-hour night-time ban period on bursting of crackers and voiced unhappiness over the government's failure to run a campaign to create public awareness during Diwali time on the ill-effects of fireworks.
Nepal has sharply increased permit fees for climbing Mount Everest by 36 per cent and also introduced a slew of measures aimed at controlling garbage pollution on the world's tallest peak, officials said.
"We do not want all children to become ninjas," a senior lawyer told the Supreme Court on Thursday, taking a cue from Chief Justice H L Dattu's reference to his grandson looking like a ninja by wearing a mask to avoid high levels of pollution in Delhi.
The minimum temperature in the national capital on Saturday settled at 10.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average, it said.
The dramatic reversal in the situation caught people and weather scientists unaware.
Housing Minister M T B Nagaraj and K Sudhakar handed over their resignations at the Speaker's chamber in Vidhana Soudha.
E-waste accounts for 70 per cent of Indian landfills.
Closure of tanneries pulls down domestic finished leather exports and local price of raw-skin.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hopes pollution will not affect the India-Bangladesh T20 International in the city on November 3, emphasising that his government has been taking steps such as the odd-even scheme to improve the air quality.
People living in Delhi should be more concerned about pollution levels rather than hosting a cricket match, said former India opener Gautam Gambhir.
A division bench led by Justice Nitin Jamdar said the MPCB order was set aside for being 'disproportionate' and noted the order was passed in a 'hasty manner'.
The central government's Great Nicobar development project, proposed around an unprecedented transhipment port, will be executed to keep environmental impact minimal, and is essential as it is of national importance, the government has said amid calls to abort the controversial project due to ecological concerns, the Centre said in an official statement.
A CPCB official said a number of factors were responsible for the deteriorating air quality, including vehicular pollution, construction activities and meteorological factors.
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.
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.
A PIL was filed stating the extensive wedding preparations of Suryakant -- son of Ajay Gupta -- and that of Atul Gupta's son Shashank was damaging the environment.
There is a proposal to term forests as areas so notified and not include plantations on private land.
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.
Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta's Sterlite Copper on Monday came out with an advertisement inviting expression of interest (EoI) for carrying out plant "restart activities" at its Thoothukudi unit in Tamil Nadu, that got closed more than five years ago following an order issued by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). The EoI for restart comes when the company is still awaiting the final judgement on the issue, and the court has only allowed it to do maintenance work. "We have initiated the upkeep and maintenance activities at the plant as allowed by the Supreme Court vide its order dated May 4, 2023, in coordination with the district authorities.
Responding to a question on the issue of felling trees in Mumbai's Aarey forest, in which the Supreme Court has restrained authorities from cutting anymore trees, Javadekar told the reporters that he would not like to comment on a sub judice matter.
"The overall Delhi's Air Quality Index is in the very poor category with few Delhi locations entering at higher zone but that will be short lived. This is mainly because the extremely calm local surface winds which were prevailing yesterday are likely to increase slightly and may further pick-up by Oct 26," SAFAR said.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala passed the order after hearing an application of Uttar Pradesh government seeking more time to install and operationalise 100 per cent STP coverage in the state.
The total cost for procurement of 41,000 LMGs will be Rs 3,000 crore while over 3.5 lakh Close Quarter Battle Carbines will be bought at a cost of Rs 4,607 crore respectively, defence ministry officials said.
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.
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.
A senior Delhi Jal Board (DJB) official on Sunday bathed in water taken from a stretch of the Yamuna where the utility sprayed a chemical to dissipate foam in the river.
Delhi Pollution Control Committee has asked water & electricity providers to cut supply
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Monday said scheduling of matches in pollution-mired Delhi will be 'considered' in future after Sri Lanka's cricket team complained of poor air quality during the ongoing third Test against India in New Delhi.
This comes at a time when the group's copper plant in Tamil Nadu remains shut for nearly three years, causing a Rs 5 crore loss every day.
The NGT directed the Delhi govt not to implement the scheme unless it established that it was not counter-productive.
The smog reduced the visibility to merely 300 meters in the morning affecting traffic, an official of the India Meteorological Department said.
The first two units of the Kudankulam nuclear plant will discharge 6.3 billion litres of waste water every day right onto the beach. This discharge will trigger a slow-motion disaster that will poison beaches, devastate near-shore fisheries and choke the livelihood of fisherfolk in the vicinity, says Nityanand Jayaraman.
Three expert members -- Rajendra Singh, Ravi Chopra and Rashid Siddiqui -- have resigned from the National Ganga River Basin Authority.
