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Delhi Pollution
In a renewed push to curb vehicular pollution in the national capital, the Delhi government has intensified enforcement of its "no PUC, no fuel" rule, leading to over 15,000 vehicles being turned away from fuel stations in just four days from April 26 to 29, as per data accessed by the PTI. The move signals a stricter on-ground implementation of existing norms to tackle the city's persistent air quality crisis. This comes after the government, on April 22, reiterated that vehicles without a valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate will not be provided fuel in Delhi. While the provision was introduced in October 2025, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had called for stricter implementation of the same in April this year. An official told PTI, "A significant number of vehicles without a valid PUC certificate are being denied fuel daily. In just four days, for example, over 15,000 vehicles were turned down." According to the data accessed by the PTI, 3,525 vehicles were denied fuel b
Delhi government to deploy two weed harvester machines at the Najafgarh Drain- one of the biggest contributors of pollutants into the Yamuna, Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said on Saturday. According to officials, by targeting the problem at its source, these machines are expected to significantly reduce the pollutant load entering the river while also improving drainage efficiency across the city. "Cleaning the Najafgarh drain is directly linked to cleaning the Yamuna. We are now using modern, Made-in-India machines aligned with the vision of Swachh Bharat to deliver real, visible change," Singh, who is also the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) minister, said. These dual-purpose harvesters are not just machines- they represent technology-led governance in action, he added. Powered by a 112-horsepower engine and equipped with a storage capacity of approximately 14 cubic meters, the machines can cut, collect, and remove dense aquatic vegetation such as water hyacinth along .
The four-decade-old MC Mehta case finally came to an end on March 12 when the Supreme Court disposed of the 1985 Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning air pollution in Delhi and its surrounding areas. The PIL, filed by environmentalist M C Mehta in 1985, led to several landmark judgments and orders aimed at preventing, controlling, and managing pollution levels in Delhi-NCR and related issues. 79-year-old Mahesh Chander Mehta is a lawyer who has been a prominent advocate for environmental conservation in various areas, including air pollution, Ganga pollution, and the protection of the Taj Mahal. Born on October 12, 1946, in a small village in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehta completed his primary education in Dhangri village and pursued higher education at a school in Rajouri. He later moved to Jammu, where he earned a Postgraduate degree in Political Science and a Law degree from Jammu University. He began his legal practice at the Jammu and Kashmir High ...
Delhi was the most polluted city during 2024-25, recording the highest annual PM2.5 levels and extended periods of "severe" air quality in winter while Patna was the second-most polluted city, according to a new analysis by Climate Trends. Climate Trends is a research-based consulting and capacity-building initiative that aims to bring greater focus on issues of environment, climate change and sustainable development. Based on Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) air quality monitoring data, this report analysed how meteorological conditions influence the persistence of PM2.5 pollution across six major Indian cities such as Delhi, Patna, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. Using CPCB air quality data (2024-2025) combined with meteorological clustering, the study distinguished emission-driven pollution from weather-driven variability. "Delhi continues to face the most severe pollution crisis nationally with the highest annual average PM2.5 levels and the longest stretches of ..