The Supreme Court allowed, “as temporary measure” the sale and bursting of green crackers approved by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) from October 18 to October 21, and restricted the timings to 6 am to 7 am and 8 pm to 10 pm, the Indian Express reported. Only licensed traders can sell green crackers manufactured by those who are registered with the NEERI,” the court said, adding no sale or purchase of fire crackers through e-commerce sites will be allowed.
Firecrackers from outside the NCR region won’t be allowed. The use of firecrackers with barium and those not approved by NEERI as green crackers shall not be permitted, the court said.
The sale shall be permitted only from the designated location in the entire National Capital Region, which shall be identified by the district collector and the district superintendent of police and given wide publicity, the top court ordered.
GRAP-1 kicks in as Delhi-NCR air quality breaches ‘poor’ 200 AQI mark ahead of Diwali
A week ahead of Diwali, Delhi implemented stage one restrictions of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on Tuesday. The plan kicks in when the air quality index crosses 200. Soon after the withdrawal of southwest monsoon, Delhi’s AQI breached the ‘poor’ category with the reading pegged at 201 as of 10:30 am, according to the Air Quality Early Warning System. Multiple localities remained in the ‘poor’ air quality zone. Anand Vihar was the worst with the AQI shooting up to 365 (very poor).
“Data from the Central Pollution Control Board showed that on Tuesday at 4 PM, the 24-hour average AQI stood at 211—the first reading in this range since June 11, when it was 245. Experts said the deterioration in air quality is due to a dip in both wind speed and night temperature,” reported HT.
The newspaper noted that the situation is likely to worsen around Diwali, “in line with the annual phenomenon of the air becoming toxic, due to the bursting of firecrackers.” Emissions from traffic and smoke from crop burning in the neighbouring states further exacerbate the situation. “Forecasts by the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi show no relief ahead, with “very poor” AQI likely around or after Diwali,” said the newspaper report.
Govt plans to exempt green nod for solid waste facilities
The Centre proposed to exempt Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) and Common Municipal Solid Waste Management Facilities (CMSWMFs), including those having landfill sites, from getting prior environmental clearance, the Business Standard reported. The environment ministry proposed to exempt these sectors because of their low pollution potential, according to a report by HT.
The report said two draft notifications by the environment ministry on October 1 and 3, say “the exemption will apply to both facilities, subject to environmental safeguards being implemented and monitored through the existing consent mechanism by state pollution control boards and pollution control committees.”
The government said CETPs and CMSWMFs are governed by strong regulatory frameworks under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, which ensure regular monitoring, inspections and mandatory reporting.
NGT Seeks Detailed Action Plan On Howrah Waste Management
National Green Tribunal (NGT), India’s green court, sought a detailed action plan for waste and sewage management in Howrah to ensure effective implementation, monitoring and transparency, TOI reported. The court was hearing a plea following the sudden collapse of garbage mountain at the legacy dump site at Belgachia Trenching ground, leading to damage to the water pipeline, and becoming a life threat to people living near it. The court directed top civil authorities to remain present at the next hearing and furnish detailed action plans for clearing legacy waste, as well as managing and disposing of solid waste and sewage, along with specific information on: actions already taken, steps proposed, project-wise targets, budgetary allocations, and timelines for completion.
Howrah’s legacy dumps, unscientific disposal practices, and untreated sewage discharge into the Hooghly river are persistent issues.
MP govt mixes seized sand with soil to fight illegal mining in National Chambal Sanctuary
To tackle illegal sand mining near National Chambal Sanctuary, sand seized from vehicles like tractor trolleys is mixed with soil to render it unusable, the environment department, Madhya Pradesh told the National Green Tribunal (NGT), reported DTE.
In 2024, 46,118.55 cubic metres of sand was seized and 45,799 cubic metres was destroyed, the government affidavit said.
The government said it had organised taskforce meetings at all levels for formulating strategies for combating illegal sand mining. The taskforce for each district comprises the district magistrate, superintendent of police and the divisional forest officer, the outlet said.
Andhra Pradesh to NGT: State is processing all solid and liquid waste 100%
Andhra Pradesh told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that 100% of the municipal solid waste generated in the state is being processed, reported DTE.
The outlet noted that the government said total waste generated is 7,527 TPD, of which wet waste is 4,471 TPD and dry waste is 3.056 TPD. The wet waste is being processed through waste-to-compost plants, bioCNG plants and windrow composting. The state’s urban local bodies (ULB) process waste for making compost in sheds and also through windrow composting in open areas, where processing plants are not available. Some 3,056 TPD of dry waste generated is being processed through material recovery facilities, waste-to-energy plants and cement plants, the report said.
The state processed 8.39 million tonnes of legacy waste out of the total legacy waste of 8.59 million tonnes. In 90 ULBs, 100% remediation is completed and in the remaining 33 ULBs, work is in progress to complete the balanced legacy waste of 199,000 tonnes shortly, the outlet cited state data.
Unauthorised construction & waste dumping : NGT directs CIDCO, Forest Department to restore Coastal Regulation Zone sites in Raigad
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) pulled up CIDCO, (government company incharge of building housing and commercial spaces) and the Forest Department for failing to fully restore CRZ-1 sites in Raigad, Maharashtra, reported the Hindu. The court ordered urgent clean-up and compliance within a month. The green court’s Western Zone Bench in Pune directed the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) of Maharashtra, and the State Forest Department, to restore three Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ-1) sites in Raigad district within one month, and submit a compliance report thereafter,
Carmakers chose to cheat to sell cars rather than comply with emissions law, ‘dieselgate’ trial told
In the ongoing ‘dieselgate’ trail (companies programmed engines that met emission standards only in lab, but not on road) Mercedes, Ford, Renault, Nissan and Peugeot/Citroën face group action in which damages could exceed £6 billion, reported the Guardian.
Carmakers preferred cheating to prioritise “customer convenience” and sell cars than comply with the law on deadly pollutants, the first day of “the largest group action trial in English legal history” has been told, the report said.
The newspaper noted that over a decade after the original “dieselgate” scandal broke, lawyers representing 1.6 million diesel car owners in the UK argue that manufacturers deliberately installed software to rig emissions tests.
They alleged the “prohibited defeat devices” could detect when the cars were under test conditions and ensure that harmful NOx emissions were kept within legal limits, duping regulators and drivers.
The three-month hearing opened at London’s high court on Monday against Mercedes, Ford, Renault, Nissan and Peugeot/Citroën – from 2009. In “real world” conditions, when driven on the road, lawyers argue, the cars produced much higher levels of emissions, the outlet said.
Hiking shoes and gear, big source of microplastics in wilderness, study shows
Hiking shoes and outdoor gear may be a huge source of microplastic pollution in the wilderness, new research that checked for the material in several Adirondack mountain lakes in upstate New York suggests, the Guardian reported.
The outlet said the scientists measured microplastic levels in two lakes that are the among highest sources of water for the Hudson River – one that sees heavy foot traffic from hikers, and another lake rarely touched by human activity.
The samples from the lake that sees heavier foot traffic showed levels that were about 23 times higher.
Soft-soled trail shoes and synthetic clothing “appear to be significant contributors to microplastics finding their way into these remote, otherwise pristine waters”, Tim Keyes, who worked on the project, told the outlet.
Ozone pollution events in China to grow by 58% by 2050, under a medium emissions scenario
Concurrent heatwave and ozone pollution events pose a great threat to health, new research published in Nature said. Yet the impacts of future warming on such compound extremes and the associated health risks remain unclear, the outlet said. Scientists used dynamic downscaling techniques and multi-model ensembles to estimate excess deaths attributed to heatwave-ozone compound extremes from climate change under Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). Scientists found that, driven by future climate change, ozone pollution events in China are projected to grow by 58% by the middle of the century, half of which are also heatwave days. Consequently, the heatwave-ozone compound event exposure rises by a factor of two, causing an additional 61,600 deaths nationwide.
About The Author
You may also like
CPCB should help industry meet green norms: Environment Minister
Noise pollution from trains hit surrounding homes, exceed limits by 85%
Delhi residents losing over 8 yrs of life due to polluted air
Environment ministry notifies rules for management of contaminated sites
NGT seeks clarification from MCD on waste management at Ghazipur landfill