Shivam Patel

In its objections, the OIL stated that it has already paid Rs 20 lakh to 11 families whose houses have been completely destroyed, and the additional amount recommended is not justified.

The pact is crucial to Delhi as it is dependent on Yamuna for up to 70% of its water needs.

An official from the Central environment ministry said the reason behind cleaner air is a combined result of meteorology, mainly better rainfall, and also fewer people on the roads.

Air pollution in the national capital has been an issue of concern for quite some time as Delhi and its suburbs have ranked among the most polluted cities in the world frequently since 2014, when the WHO declared Delhi the most polluted city in the world.

In a preliminary report, the panel has recommended “scrutiny of all existing projects of OIL in Assam” in view of “serious and grave infraction against the statutory environmental safeguards”.

Sources at the institute and senior Delhi government officials confirmed to The Indian Express that the project, aimed at combating air pollution in the capital, “did not take off”.

The Delhi Jal Board does not have any specific technology to treat ammonia. The only solution it adapts is to reduce production at three water treatment plants — Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla — which are largely affected by the pollutant.

The hearing was held three months after it was initially planned on April 9, as a result of the coronavirus lockdown, according to a document prepared by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on the proceedings of the hearing.

The project, steered by the Delhi Irrigation and Flood Control Department (I&FC), was launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in August last year to store overflowing water from the river in shallow reservoirs on the floodplains.

In a response to The Sunday Express, HCP Design, Planning and Management — the government’s consultant for the project — said it is working on a replantation strategy for trees which aims to, “in principle”, bring back the original design by Lutyens.

Analysis of data from the new stations presents a comprehensive status of noise pollution in the city for the first time as the five monitoring stations installed in Delhi in 2013 had become “inadequate,” as per the DPCC, following a rise in urban and industrial activities.

With more seismometers, scientists will be able to trace earthquakes of very low magnitudes, even below 1.8, which was the lowest magnitude recorded in Rohtak four times in June.

Many such migrant workers were at the Ajmeri Gate entrance of the station on Tuesday, waiting to catch a train to their homes, even as the process of unlocking the economy and the city enters its second phase from July 1.

Recently, the Delhi government, following recommendations made by a high-level committee headed by NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul, capped treatment charges in all private hospitals in the city.

According to the Deputy Director of the Agriculture Department in Gurgaon, Atmaram Godara, the locust swarm that passed through Gurgaon Saturday morning was around 5 kilometres wide and 8 kilometres in length.

Meanwhile, the Union Agriculture Ministry said ground control teams are constantly tracking swarms and will undertake major control operations once locusts settle down. The control operations are underway in Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

A large swarm had descended on Gurgaon earlier in the morning from Jhajjar district in Haryana and was moving towards Uttar Pradesh through Faridabad and Palwal, officials said.

Locust Attack: Faridabad Deputy Commissioner Yashpal Yadav said crops were unaffected by the swarm, which is now headed towards Uttar Pradesh.

The concentration of the air pollutant began reducing from March 16 and continued dropping under the first phase of the nationwide lockdown imposed from March 25 to April 14 to control the spread of coronavirus pandemic.

The closure of budget hotels in Delhi under the coronavirus lockdown has also put many of their associated businesses and staff out of work. Kunal Kanojiya (30) is the owner of a laundry service in Karol Bagh, which receives business from seven-eight hotels in the area.

The decision was taken along the lines of the call to boycott Chinese products by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Tuesday, hotel association president Sandeep Khandelwal said.

"The Chinese are not the world, we can survive without them as well. We are all law abiding citizens and no one will take law in their hands, but this would make the Chinese worried... War and trade can not happen at the same time," Kandelwal said.

Around 10 protesting traders were briefly detained by police. Khandelwal (59), who had fought the 2008 assembly polls on a BJP ticket from Chandni Chowk, has a hardware and fittings shop in Karol Bagh. He claims he has not sold Chinese goods for four years.

The protest was held by traders' body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), led by its secretary general Praveen Khandelwal. Around 10 protesting traders were briefly detained by police.