Delhi air pollution: Air quality continues to remain "severe" in the national capital on Friday.
Pollution levels continue to remain "severe" in the national capital on Friday. Delhi has been blaming its neighbours Punjab and Haryana for the severe air quality, stating that the two states have failed to prevent farmers from burning their stubble. But even as Delhi and its neighbouring states spar over the stubble burning, a Centre-run monitoring agency has identified a West Asian dust storm as the chief trigger behind the recent smog episode in the region. Delhi air pollution has also forced Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli to issue an appeal to the public to contribute in their own way to reduce pollution in the national capital. Authorities have withdrawn the ban on entry of trucks and restore parking fees to usual rates. The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority lifted the ban on construction activities as well but Lt Governor Anil Baijal kept it in abeyance as the matter was pending with the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
Here are the live updates on Delhi pollution:
Ban on use of generator sets and prohibition on open burning of garbage will continue in Delhi, Lt Governor Anil Baijal said today while lifting the emergency measures that were taken in view of the poor air quality.
The LG said that other measures such as increased frequency of metro and mechanical sweeping of city's roads will be in place.
The emergency measures were lifted after the air quality in Delhi improved.
The Supreme Court-mandated pollution watchdog, Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority said that Delhi government has adequate land to park up to 2,000 buses.
They criticised the Aam Aadmi Party for doing "too little" to augment the city's public transport.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) today lifted its
ban on construction activities in Delhi-NCR and allowed trucks to enter the national capital, while asking authorities to strictly monitor their movement.
The green panel, however, refused to lift its ban on industrial activities causing pollution in the Delhi-National Capital Region region.
The tribunal also directed the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to submit their action plan on steps taken to curb pollution within two weeks.
Record 35,000 Runners Register For Delhi Half Marathon Despite PollutionDelhi Half Marathon organisers claim it has not affected registration for the event, where 35,000 people have signed up for participation -- a 1,000 more than last year.
Around 30,000 had taken part in the race in 2015 and the numbers have touched 35,000 this year, according to race organisers, Procam International. "It's great to see that how event registrations close much before the stipulated date and we are glad that ADHM has played a transformational role in bringing communities together," Vivek Singh, Joint Managing Director, Procam International, told news agency PTI.
Out of these 35,000 participants, 13,216 (elite and amateur together) will run in the half marathon (21.097km) distance, while the remaining will take part in five categories of Great Delhi Run, Timed 10K Run, Senior Citizens Run and Champions with Disability Run.
The National Green Tribunal has vacated its stay on construction activities in Delhi-NCR and ordered the concerned states to submit their "Action Plan" in two weeks to show how they will tackle pollution.
"If Action Plans are not submitted in two weeks, exemplary fine will be charged from the salaries of concerned senior officials," said NGT bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar.
Centre told Supreme Court today that it has banned the use of furnace oil and pet Coke in Delhi's adjoining states-Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to reduce deterioration of air quality in Delhi.
Costa Rica envoy Mariela Cruz Alvarez has been public about the pollution in the city. The diplomat said she had left Delhi after her "lungs collapsed from the heavy pollution" and she was "choking to death".
The NGT had on November 11 stated that it would not exempt women and two-wheelers from the odd-even vehicle rationing plan to tackle pollution.
Ban on entry of trucks lifted, but should be properly regulated says National Green Tribunal.
Two Delhi MLAs yesterday tied a protective mask on the statue of Mahatma Gandhi here, registering their protest against the Delhi government's "nonutilisation" of environment fund to combat air pollution.
Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Kapil Mishra, before being stopped and detained by the police, managed to put on one mask on the statue of Gandhi and another on that of a statute at Gyarah Murti sculpture near Mother Teresa Crescent on Saradar Patel Marg.
On November 8, the contribution of the dust storm was 40 per cent, eclipsing the role of emissions from stubble burning, which stood at 25 per cent, the Pune-based System of Air Quality And Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said. That was the day pollution levels peaked with PM2.5 concentration reaching 640 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3), according to the SAFAR scientific assessment report of the
week-long pollution crisis accessed by PTI.