Weekly Green News Update for Week 30 (July 20 to 26), 2015

Weekly environmental news roundup from across different media networks for week 30 (between July 20 to 26) 2015.

1. 80 People Die in Delhi Everyday From Air Pollution, Parliament is Told

Air pollution in Delhi is killing around 80 people everyday, according to an international study, said the Centre.

2. Delhi Pollution: Green Tribunal Now Says Will Arrest Officials

Furious over the complacency of the Centre and the Delhi government regarding vehicular pollution, the National Green Tribunal on Monday threatened to issue arrest warrants against officials.

3. NGT Slams Delhi Govt. for air pollution from diesel trucks

The National Green Tribunal on Monday came down heavily on the Delhi government for pollution in the Capital and underreporting the number of trucks that enter Delhi.

4. NGT slams Delhi govt over monitoring of pollution caused by vehicles

Reacting to Delhi government’s submission that only 41 of 759 vehicles entering Delhi were found to be violating the pollution norms, the National Green Tribunal on Monday took Delhi government to task.

5. NGT questions Delhi govt’s plan to procure 10,000 new buses

The National Green Tribunal on Monday questioned the Delhi government’s proposal to deploy 10,000 new DTC buses in the wake of alarming proportions of air pollution in the capital and directed it to come out with a proper study to support its contention.

6. What HC breathes in every day: Smoke, soot and body odour

The bench of Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva had taken suo motu cognisance of the issue of air pollution in Delhi in April, following media reports on air quality in the city.

7. NGT notice to Delhi govt over noisy weddings

The National Green Tribunal has issued a notice to ministry of environment and forests, ministry of home, Delhi government and the Central Pollution Control Board on Friday to respond to a petition against noisy weddings that disturb birds and animals as well as cause distress among residents.

8. NGT pulls up DMRC for dumping waste in Yamuna

The National Green Tribunal has pulled up Delhi government, Delhi Jal Board and the corporations for failing to submit progress reports on steps taken by them for reducing pollution in the Yamuna.

9. Green Court Directs Delhi Metro to Remove Dumped Material Near Yamuna

The National Green Tribunal today took strong exception to dumping of construction debris by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation near Yamuna riverbed and directed immediate removal of all such material.

10. Sewage cess: NGT slams Delhi government

The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday slammed the Delhi government for not taking a final view on the issue of minimum environment compensation payable by every household in the city for generating sewage.

11. Delhi’s trunk calls: Meet the group that teaches you to scale trees and get up close and arboreal with nature

Twenty-six-year-old Verhaen Khanna is not your garden variety green crusader.

12. NGT wants undertaking on completion of waste processing plant

The National Green Tribunal has directed that a waste processing plant on Bawana-Narela road here be completed and operationalised within two years and sought an undertaking from Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corp Ltd in this regard.

13. Plantation drive begins in earnest, target is 5L

With the first few showers already moistening Delhi’s otherwise arid landscape, the forest department has started its annual plantation drive.

14. Sewage floods south Delhi road for 15 days

A 300-metre stretch of Aurobindo Marg near Adhchini in south Delhi has been flooded with sewage for close to two weeks now, leading to massive traffic chaos.

15. DJB guilty of damaging 9 trees

‘If a tree dies, plant another in its place’, so said noted botanist Carl Linnaeus.

16. CONCOR opposes shifting of depot

The Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) told the NGT that it opposed the proposal of shifting its Inland Container Depot at Tughlakabad (ICD/TK) to Dadri in Gautam Budh Nagar.

17. AAP’s growth drive to strip Delhi’s green cover

To clear infrastructure projects that have remained stuck for years, the Aam Aadmi Party government is planning to tweak Delhi’s green laws and strip certain tree species of all legal protection.

18. SC’s been kind, we won’t: NGT

The green tribunal on Wednesday came down heavily on National Highways Authority of India and the Haryana government for the inordinate delay in completing both eastern and western peripheral expressway projects.

19. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal meets Nitin Gadkari, discusses Yamuna and infrastructure

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday took time off from his ongoing confrontation with the Centre to meet road transport minister Nitin Gadkari to discuss and seek assistance to address city’s pressing problems, including the traffic mess, Yamuna clearing and developing the river as waterway for transportation besides developing bus ports.

20. Environment Min holds workshop on loss of biodiversity

Ahead of the climate change conference in Paris, Environment Ministry today held a two-day workshop to study the economic consequences of loss of biological diversity and the associated decline in ecosystem services.

21. Wildlife laws set for huge overhaul, draft policy ready

The government has proposed a new set of regulations on hunting of wildlife outside protected areas such as national parks and sanctuaries as well as trade of non-endangered flora and fauna, which conservationists dubbed as a “licence to kill”.

22. Javadekar non-committal on air pollution-induced deaths

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday refused to take a stand on whether air pollution in Delhi was indeed causing 80 deaths every day as per his earlier submission to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

23. Ministries in talks to ensure higher e-flow in Ganga: Government

The government today said the ministries of water resources, environment and power are in discussions to ensure “uninterrupted” higher e-flow from any hydro-power projects such that river Ganga neither gets fragmented nor loses its character throughout its length.

Shilpi Chakravarty

Shilpi Chakravarty is an environmental professional with a master's degree in environmental studies from the University of Delhi. She works to use her professional skills for making the planet a better place to live on.

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