According to the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), the air quality is considered to be in the emergency category if the PM2.5 and PM10 levels continue to be above 300 micrograms per cubic metre and 500 micrograms per cubic metre respectively for 48 hours or more.
The air quality is expected to improve further due to wind speed favourable for the dispersion of pollutants.
"Let the high court decide, we will not get into this," the bench said.
Air pollution may lead to a faster spread of Covid-19 infection as it causes coughing and sneezing, government officials told a parliamentary panel on Friday, according to sources.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on Tuesday ordered a complete ban on the sale and bursting of firecrackers in the national capital till January 1, 2022.
The petition alleged that "illegal mining" was being carried out by Singh, the MP from Kaiserganj, in Majharath, Jaitpur and Nawabganj villages of Tarbganj tehsil in the district.
The Delhi government has been following the practice of banning all kinds of firecrackers for the last three years.
During his tenure as an apex court judge, Justice Lokur had dealt with pollution matter which included the aspect of stubble burning.
Violation of the provisions entails a punishment of a jail term up to five years or with fine up to Rs 1 crore or with both, the ordinance released by the Ministry of Law and Justice on Thursday said.
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.
Ahead of the Delhi assembly polls scheduled to be held early next year, state Congress chief Devender Yadav said on Friday that the party will contest on all 70 seats and there would be no alliance.
The Supreme Court Wednesday directed the Centre and states to ensure implementation of the decisions taken in a meeting to curb air pollution, observing that it cannot get into the 'nitty gritty' and the bureaucracy has developed a 'sort of inertia' of not taking decisions which are left to the courts.
The report on the alleged liquor scam, a hot button issue in the run-up to the elections, claimed a loss of revenue to the tune of Rs 941.53 crore, saying timely permissions were not taken for opening the liquor vends in non-conforming municipal wards.
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.
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.
The alarming pollution level is literally 'capital punishment' for Delhi'ites who are being robbed of three years of their lives due to it, Delhi High Court said on Thursday, holding government's inaction and stubble burning in Punjab as being responsible for the "genocide".
A bench of the NGT, headed by its chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, directed that the order will also apply to all cities and towns in the country where the average of ambient air quality during November (as per available data of last year) falls under 'poor' or worse category.
In the wake of the Aazan versus Hanuman Chalisa row in Karnataka, the state government has issued a set of directions on the use of loudspeakers and to remove them if they were not authorised by the 'designated authority.'
Violation of the ban will invite punitive action, including a fine or a jail term or both, detailed under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and under bylaws of respective municipal corporations, they said. For effective enforcement of the ban, national and state-level control rooms have been set up and special enforcement teams formed to check illegal manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of banned SUP items, officials in the ministry said.
India captain Rohit Sharma assured BCCI boss Sourav Ganguly that his team is ready to play Sunday's opening T20 International against Bangladesh despite growing concerns about severe air pollution.
Amid a spike in pollution levels in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to ensure crop residue burning was stopped "forthwith", saying it cannot let "people die" due to pollution.
During a hearing on Friday, the bench noted that Mumbai was witnessing a decline in the bursting of firecrackers.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that primary schools will be closed from Saturday in view of spike in pollution levels in the national capital.
The ban on certain single-use plastic (SUP) items kicks in from Friday, with state governments initiating an enforcement campaign to identify and close down units engaging in production, distribution, stocking and sale of such items, officials said. Though several manufacturers have said they are not prepared to implement the ban due to a lack of alternatives, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav had on Tuesday said the government had given enough time to the industry and the general public to prepare for the ban on SUP items and it hopes for everyone's cooperation in implementing it from July 1. Violation of the ban will invite punitive action, including a fine or a jail term or both, detailed under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and under bylaws of respective municipal corporations, officials in the Union environment ministry said.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the 'country's first smog tower' at Connaught Place in New Delhi on Monday and said it will prove to be a milestone and many such structures can be installed in the city if the pilot project yields results.
A complete ban on firecrackers in Delhi until January 1, the government's refusal to grant licences for sales in Karnataka, and restrictions in the Noida region are adversely affecting the business of manufacturers in Tamil Nadu's Sivakasi, which produces over 90 per cent of India's fireworks. According to industry players, demand has decreased by 20 per cent compared to last year. Moreover, the ban on the use of barium nitrate and the manufacturing and sale of joint fireworks is also impacting demand.
According to forecasting agencies, the city is set to record its best air quality for the day after Diwali since 2015 on Tuesday.
Top officials of the environment ministry, Delhi Development Authority and municipal commissioners also stayed away from the deliberations.
A number of persons fainted after experiencing 'burning sensation' in their throat and chest. Many people who were asleep woke up in panic and scurried out of their homes and alerted neighbours and all of them soon reached the main roads unsure of what to do.
There will be a blanket ban on the production, sale and use of all types of firecrackers in the national capital, including on Diwali, till January 1, 2023, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Wednesday.
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.
Terming the incident as 'horrific', the Aam Aadmi Party hit out at the Centre by drawing a comparison with the Jallianwallah Bagh massacre, whose centenary is being observed on Saturday.
The problem is so severe that multiple agencies have issued several precautionary measures.
The increase in stubble burning has kicked off a political slugfest, with Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday saying that there had been a 19 per cent rise in farm fires over 2021 in Punjab and that the Aam Aadmi Party had turned the national capital into a gas chamber.
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).
Production, storage and sale of firecrackers in the capital will be punishable with a fine of up to Rs 5,000 and three years jail under Section 9B of the Explosives Act, the minister told a press conference in New Delhi.
Pollution levels were inching towards 'severe plus emergency' category due to a change in wind direction and rampant stubble burning in neighbouring states
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) also issued guidelines for implementation of the ban on firecrackers, which included directions to the Delhi Police to register a first information report against the violators of the ban.
Less than six months ago, Delhi was gasping for breath. Authorities said air quality had reached "unbearable levels". Schools were shut, flights were diverted, and people were asked to wear masks, avoid polluted areas and keep doors and windows closed. But during the lockdown that began on Mar 22, the concentration of poisonous PM2.5 particles in a cubic metre of air averaged at 44.18, according to a Reuters analysis of government data, indicating a rare "good" rating, the safest level on the scale.
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.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances