Weekly Environmental News Roundup: 19 January 2026
Weekly environmental news roundup from across different media networks for Week 3 (12 to 18 January) 2026.
CAQM invokes Stage 4 of GRAP in Delhi NCR as AQI crosses 400
The Commission for Air Quality Management in Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas has invoked Stage Four of the Graded Response Action Plan across the entire NCR with immediate effect.
Union Environment Minister directs Delhi to focus on smart traffic management to fight air pollution
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Monday (January 12, 2026) directed the Delhi government to focus on ‘smart traffic management’, smaller mechanised road sweepers and litter pickers for narrow roads, and strengthening end-to-end public transport, among other measures to fight air pollution.
Misting systems at dust hotspots, Yamuna cleanup: Delhi govt approves pollution control plan
The Delhi government on Friday approved a comprehensive roadmap to curb air pollution in the capital and clean the Yamuna, including installation of misting systems at 62 pollution hotspots and strengthening sewage and industrial waste treatment,
Amid growing concern over the ageing drinking water supply system in the Capital, the Delhi Jal Board last year received about 45,000 contamination-related complaints from across the city between April 1 and December 31, The Indian Express has learnt.
Days after Delta 1 Sector in Greater Noida reported contaminated drinking water supply, the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority on Monday said it will soon replace the old galvanised iron pipes — which connect to the main pipeline and deliver water to residential areas — with plastic pipes.
‘Paying Rs 1,500 per tanker… very difficult situation’: Water supply disrupted across Gurgaon
Even as the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority on Tuesday night completed repairs to plug the leakage at the Water Treatment Plant at Chandu Budhera — a facility that supplies more than half the city’s water requirement — residents across major Gurgaon sectors continue to grapple with water supply issues.
From Lodhi Garden to Parliament House: How Delhi plans to drain its waterlogging hotspots
Revival of 57 closed tubewells to actively pump out groundwater, judiciously designing a rainwater harvesting system with desiltation and filtration chambers, and artificial recharge of groundwater — these are among the steps recommended in a study conducted by the Ministry of Jal Shakti’s Central Ground Water Board to curb incidents of waterlogging in the areas under the jurisdiction of New Delhi Municipal Council.
After Report Exposes Crisis, Toxic Water Nightmare Ends In West Delhi Colony
Residents of Kunwar Singh Colony in West Delhi were forced to live with toxic, contaminated water entering their homes—water they drank, cooked with, and bathed their children in.
Groundwater Levels Rise At Key Spots In Lutyens’ Delhi
To address persistent waterlogging in low-lying areas and seepage in basements of buildings at pockets in Lutyens’ Delhi, Central Ground Water Board conducted an assessment of groundwater levels on behalf of New Delhi Municipal Council early last year.
Centre revives three long-stalled Yamuna dam projects to shore up Delhi’s water supply
Three long-pending dam projects on the Yamuna and its tributaries, dormant for decades, have been reviewed and revived by the Centre, a move officials say could significantly ease Delhi’s chronic water shortage while improving year-round flow in the river, TOI reported.
Mundka water bodies will be revived by Oct, DDA tells NGT
The Delhi Development Authority has informed the National Green Tribunal of a plan to rejuvenate four water bodies in west Delhi’s Mundka village, at a cost of ₹76 lakh.
The National Green Tribunal has taken suo motu cognisance of “serious health issues” of sewage contamination in drinking water reported in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, based on multiple news reports.
No mining in Delhi-NCR, efforts underway to protect Aravallis: Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav said on Wednesday that mining will not be permitted in the Delhi-NCR region.
The Aravalli landscape in Gurgaon’s southern areas has faced environmental degradation over the last decade, with shrinking forest and agricultural cover, a rise in built-up area, and loss of water bodies, a new pilot study has flagged.
Makeshift access roads to Pinangwan hills blocked to curb illegal mining in Aravallis: Police
In a joint operation to curb illegal mining in Aravallis, police officers and officials of the Forest department on Saturday blocked all unauthorised access routes to Pinangwan hills that fall under the Jhimrawat village of the Nuh district.
Delhi govt to implement Carbon Credit Monetisation Framework, earn from green projects
In a Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, the Delhi government gave a nod to implement the Carbon Credit Monetisation Framework in the nation.
Delhi: DPCC files affidavit in NGT on rising waste mounds
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee has filed an affidavit in the National Green Tribunal regarding an order issued by the NGT on October 16, 2025, after the tribunal took suo motu cognisance of a HT report from November 2024 on fresh waste mound emerging in Bawana and Singhola.
MCD issues 15-lakh fine issued over open burning
Municipal Corporation of Delhi has imposed fines of over Rs 15 lakh this winter to contain open and biomass burning,
Parents object to metal water bottle ban at private school
Citing health concerns, a group of parents has written to R.S. Junior Modern School at Humayun Road, central Delhi, seeking revocation of the notice banning metal water bottles and permitting only plastic ones.
Rodenticides Traces Found In Dead Chousinghas At Delhi Zoo, Reveals Report
A toxicological examination report has found the presence of phosphine in biological samples of four chousinghas (four-horned antelope) that died at the Delhi National Zoological Park last month.
Escaped jackal ‘burnt alive’ at Delhi zoo, claims workers’ union; Centre orders probe
What began as the escape of around four jackals from their enclosure at the National Zoological Park in Delhi last November, followed by assurances that all had been rescued, has now culminated in a probe ordered by the Union Environment Ministry.
MCD marks 16 of 735 identified feeding spots for stray dogs
As many as 735 feeding spots for stray dogs have been identified across 250 wards in Delhi while signages have been installed at 16 locations, Municipal Corporation of Delhi data show.
6,600 monkeys shifted in five years, but problem persists
As the key strategy to tackle the growing monkey menace in in the city, 6,591 of them were captured and relocated to Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary between Feb 2021 and Dec 2025,
Delhi among top three in electric vehicle penetration: Study
Delhi ranked third among states and Union territories in adopting electric vehicles, with EV penetration in the national capital reaching 11.6 per cent in the financial year 2024-25, according to a study.
