Weekly Environmental News Roundup for Week 11, 2025
Weekly environmental news roundup from across different media networks for Week 11 (10 to 16 March) 2025.
1. Sprinklers, Anti-Smog Guns All Year Round: Delhi’s Anti-Pollution Plan
Ms Gupta chaired a meeting to discuss steps to make the national capital cleaner and pollution-free that was attended by Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa and senior officials from the environment and the public works departments, Delhi Police, Commission for Air Quality Management, Delhi Development Authority, and civic bodies.
2. Stubble burning contributed 10.6% to Delhi’s PM2.5 levels in late 2024: Centre’s data
The average contribution of stubble burning towards PM 2.5 in Delhi was calculated at 10.6%, with a maximum contribution of 35% from Oct 8, at the onset of the winter season, till Dec 7, 2024.
3. Delhi Water Issue: PwD Minister Parvesh Verma Reveals Plan To Solve Supply Problem In 34 Slums
Delhi Public Works Department Minister Parvesh Verma, who took oath as a member of the New Delhi Municipal Council in the presence of BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj on Tuesday, pledged to solve the water supply issue in the 34 slums in the national capital.
4. Delhi government cracks down on water connection corruption; plans equitable supply system
The Delhi government has uncovered a deeply entrenched corrupt system surrounding the provision of new water connections.
5. Kalindi Colony residents suffer water contamination
Residents of Kalindi Colony in southeast Delhi alleged they were receiving contaminated water supply and raised health concerns, alleging many residents have fallen sick with gastrointestinal disorders over the past week.
6. NDMC’s summer action plan to avert drinking water crisis in Lutyens’ Delhi
New Delhi Municipal Council has put in place a comprehensive summer action plan to mitigate the drinking water crisis this summer.
7. Faecal level in Yamuna 50 lakh, norm is 500
A recent analysis based on samples collected in February has revealed a decline in the Yamuna’s water quality, with the river recording a significant rise in faecal coliform.
8. No Sewage Water Will Enter Yamuna River in Delhi: Haryana CM Nayab Singh
Expressing his government’s commitment to keeping the Yamuna river clean, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has instructed deputy commissioners to ensure no sewage water is discharged into the river.
As it chases the goal to clean Yamuna in three years to deliver one of its top poll promises, the BJP-led Delhi government has initiated the process to form a task force, in collaboration with the Territorial Army, to protect the floodplains, curb encroachments, stop illegal dumping of debris and waste, and ensure strict enforcement of environmental regulations.
10. 500 ‘illegal’ dyeing units in Delhi drain groundwater, pollute Yamuna
An estimated 500 or more ‘illegal’ dyeing units are operating across the national capital, consuming around 100 million litres per day of water and discharging untreated wastewater directly into Delhi’s drains, Patriot has learnt.
11. Yamuna River ‘virtually non-existent’ in Delhi, says parliamentary panel report
The Yamuna River is “virtually non-existent” in Delhi and even if the Delhi Jal Board treats all its sewage up to required standards, it would still stay polluted due to the lack of freshwater flow downstream of Wazirabad, a report by the parliamentary standing committee on water resources has found.
12. Rekha Gupta govt sets 3-year Yamuan cleanup target
Making the cleaning of the Yamuna one of its top priorities, Delhi govt is likely to collaborate with the to achieve the target within three years.
13. Leopard Sighted Again In Delhi’s Burari Area, Paw Marks Found In Yamuna Biodiversity Park
A leopard has been spotted once again in the Jagatpur Yamuna Biodiversity Park of Delhi, triggering fear among residents of the Burari area. Farmers report seeing the leopard for the first time around January 3 in the park’s forest. Since then, it has been sighted in various locations.
14. 5 peacocks die at Palam Air Force Stn this year
Five peacocks, including one on Monday, died at Palam Air Force Station since Jan this year.
15. Delhi: Singhola waste site to be flattened by Aug, Bawana landfill to turn ‘green’
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has informed the National Green Tribunal that the waste mountain at Singhola is expected to be fully cleared by August 2025, while the Bawana landfill, an engineered sanitary landfill, will eventually be converted into a green space with vegetation.
16. MCD prepares roadmap to manage waste mounds through environmentally friendly methods
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has prepared a road map to manage the new waste mounds in Singhola and Bawana through environmentally friendly methods.
17. Delhi Directorate of Education releases circular directing schools to phase out single-use plastic
Delhi Directorate of Education has issued a circular on its official website instructing all heads of government and government-aided recognised schools to avoid the use of SUP.
18. 37-Year-Old Man Dies After Falling Into Water-Filled Pothole In South Delhi
A 37-year-old man died after falling into a water-filled pothole on a road maintained by a government agency in Delhi, an official said on Tuesday.
19. Delhi High Court Pushes for Resolution on Sainik Farm Regularisation
The Delhi High Court has expressed its determination to see the regularisation issue of Sainik Farm in south Delhi resolved promptly.
20. MC imposes Rs 30 lakh fine for illegal waste dumping in Gurugram
The Sanitation Security Force, constituted by Municipal Corporation, Gurugram, has stepped up vigil against illegal dumping of garbage and construction and demolition waste in the city.
21. Haryana’s Groundwater Crisis Worsened by Subsidised Tubewell Irrigation
“Farmers are stuck in quicksand and there is no profit. I have been a farmer since 2000 and I don’t think farming is profitable for me,” said Sandeep Singh from Thari village in Karnal.
22. India fails to meet WHO’s air quality standard, Assam’s Byrnihat most polluted
Only seven countries have achieved the World Health Organisation’s stringent air quality standards for 2024, and India is not one of them.
23. Guv Malhotra asks lenders to create a common pool of bankable green projects
With the increasing risks of green-washing in the financial sector space, Reserve Bank governor Sanjay Malhotra has called for a cohesive co-ordination and harmonisation in approach to green financing saying financial institutions must develop a common pool of bankable projects and share their knowledge so as to better appraise risks in financing green projects.
