The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) reports improved air quality in Delhi compared to the same period last year, attributing it to coordinated efforts by government departments. Officials aim to avoid implementing GRAP Stage III restrictions through proactive measures and public participation.
Delhi's air quality deteriorates to 'very poor' levels, sparking a blame game between AAP and BJP over the causes and responsibility for the pollution.
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.
In his letter to the Congress National President, Mallikarjun Kharge, Lovely said that all unanimous decisions taken by the senior Delhi Congress leaders have been unilaterally vetoed by the AICC general secretary (Delhi in-charge).
The Delhi government has been following the practice of banning all kinds of firecrackers for the last three years.
The poisonous haze has been causing significant problems for people with existing respiratory issues, according to doctors.
Air quality in Delhi and its suburbs dropped to the severe category again on Wednesday morning, with smoke from post-harvest paddy straw burning in neighbouring states accounting for one-third of the air pollution in the national capital.
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.
Squandering the relief due to rain, Delhi recorded a jump in pollution levels and a smoky haze returned on Monday morning after residents flouted the ban on firecrackers on Diwali night.
The air quality is expected to improve further due to wind speed favourable for the dispersion of pollutants.
With Delhi recording air pollution levels seven to eight times above safe standards on Monday, the city government announced the return of its flagship odd-even scheme after four years anticipating further deterioration of air quality post-Diwali.
This time, Delhi saw a sharp improvement in air quality just ahead of Diwali which can be attributed to intermittent rainfall on Friday and wind speed favourable for the dispersion of pollutants.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In the wake of several Congress leaders quitting the party and its Punjab unit in turmoil, Sibal demanded that an immediate meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) be convened and wondered who in the party was taking decisions in the absence of a full-time president.
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.
Health expert termed the problems caused due to the rise in pollution as a "medical emergency".
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.
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.
"Last year, the ban was imposed after traders had already stored firecrackers for sale which had resulted in losses for them. I appeal to the traders to not stock up on firecrackers in view of the complete ban," he said.
Delhi Pollution Control Committee has asked water & electricity providers to cut supply
These hotels in south Delhi's Mahipalpur area are popular among tourists
Officials have admitted that the problem of frothing will continue until sewage treatment plants in Delhi are upgraded to meet the new standards.
He alleged that the BJP made people burst firecrackers on Diwali.
Amid criticism over the formation of foam in the Yamuna -- a sign of its hazardous water quality -- the Delhi government on Tuesday deployed 15 boats to remove the froth with the help of ropes.
No improvement in the air quality in Delhi-NCR is expected for another three days, authorities said on Monday, as the Supreme Court directed the Centre to call an emergency meeting to decide on measures like stopping non-essential constructions, transport and power plants by Tuesday evening.
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.
A day before counting, AAP offices across the city were abuzz with activities.
Congress on Tuesday slammed the Railway Budget as "pro-rich" with former Congress leader Mukesh Sharma removing Sadanand Gowda's nameplate, stepping on it in protest of what the party has called a anti-poor budget.
The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (469), Greater Noida (464), Ghaziabad (470), Gurgaon (472) also recorded 'severe' air pollution levels.
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.
"The child has died. The party is finished," he told reporters, referring to the Congress.
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.
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 Election Commission has issued notices to 21 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs.
Pulling out all stops on the last day of campaigning, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday reached out to the electorate holding a roadshow in Sultanpur Majra.
With an aim of expanding the party's base, Congress on Monday launched an online and application-based membership drive.
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