Weekly Environmental News Roundup (25 May 2026)
Weekly environmental news roundup from across different media networks for Week 21 (18 to 24 May) 2026.
Air Pollution
Delhi-NCR air turns poor in heatwave as PM10 dust drives pollution
The temperature in Delhi NCR is hovering around 45 degrees Celsius, but even so, the authorities recognise that pollution is here.
Delhi Govt Inks MoU With IIT Kanpur For Scientific Pollution Management In Capital
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Delhi Government’s Environment Department and IIT Kanpur’s AIRAWAT Research Foundation at the Secretariat on Friday.
Water Security
Black water panic in Delhi’s Janakpuri. No one trusts their taps
After air pollution, choked traffic, and garbage mountains, now comes black foul-smelling water from taps in several Janakpuri enclaves. ‘In a gated community, we thought basic things wouldn’t be an issue.’
CM announces up to 70% cut in water, sewer infra charges
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday announced cuts in the Delhi Jal Board’s water and sewer infrastructure charges by 50% for residential properties in E and F category colonies and by 70% in G and H category colonies.
Waste Management
Delhi’s three landfill sites await processing of 44 LMT legacy waste
With a little over six months left before the deadline to flatten two of Delhi’s three landfill mountains, the city still has nearly 44 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste waiting to be processed at the Bhalswa and Okhla landfill sites.
Watch: Delhi youth turn ‘cockroaches’, clean up Yamuna river as protest
A group of young volunteers dressed as cockroaches cleaning garbage along Delhi’s polluted Yamuna riverbank has become one of the internet’s most striking protest visuals this week.
Biodiversity Conservation
Delhi govt. to develop 100 parks to mitigate air pollution
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday announced that the Delhi government would develop 100 parks with dense tree cover and plant 14 lakh saplings this year to expand green cover and tackle air pollution in the Capital.
Forest dept to probe ‘illegal’ felling of trees in Shalimar Bagh
The forest department has asked Public Works Department officials to put on hold its work in Shalimar Bagh.
Big Cat Summit in New Delhi postponed
In the wake of concerns over the Ebola virus, India has postponed the International Big Cat Alliance summit that was scheduled in New Delhi on June 1.
Environmental Governance
Open letter to Chief Justice of India: Withdraw unjust remarks made against environmental groups
A collective of citizens, environmentalists, legal experts and civil society organisations from across India has demanded that the Supreme Court withdraw oral remarks made by the Chief Justice of India during the Pipavav Port hearing on May 11, 2026.
Climate Change
Hundreds of dead fish found in Delhi’s Sanjay Lake as heatwave triggers crisis
As Delhi reeled under its fourth straight day of heatwave conditions, Sanjay Lake in East Delhi’s Trilokpuri on Thursday turned into a fish graveyard – hundreds of fish floated belly-up in shallow green pools, ducks waded through black slush and large stretches of the lake bed lay cracked dry.
India is being left to die in the heat
Across the country, temperatures have crossed 45 degrees Celsius, inching towards 46, with Akola in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region recording the country’s highest temperature of 46.9C on April 26.
