Is India Winning the War Against Pollution? The fight for cleaner air and water intensifies as the nation grapples with the escalating impacts of climate change. From the devastating floods in Assam to the alarming rise in air pollution levels in Delhi, environmental challenges demand urgent action. This week saw crucial discussions on sustainable agriculture and renewable energy sources at the India Climate Change Conference, highlighting the government's commitment to tackling deforestation and promoting biodiversity conservation. But are these efforts enough? Experts warn of looming water scarcity and the need for stricter regulations on industrial emissions. The future of India's environment hangs in the balance, demanding collective responsibility and innovative solutions. Explore Abtak.com for in-depth analysis and the latest updates on environmental policies, climate activism, and the ongoing struggle for a sustainable India. Discover how you can contribute to a greener tomorrow.
The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Karnataka government to submit an action plan within a month to control the discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluents into the Thenpennai river. This is pending the completion of new sewage treatment plants (STPs) scheduled for the end of December 2025. The directive came during a hearing on July 15, based on a suo motu case initiated by the bench based on news reports. The bench expressed serious concern over
Jaipur, Jun 5 (PTI) Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Thursday called upon people to adopt an environment-friendly lifestyle and said that the conservation of nature is the moral responsibility of all. He was addressing a state-level programme organised here on the occasion of World Environment Day and Ganga Dussehra. Sharma said that the conservation of nature is not just an option but a dire necessity. Environmental conservation and preventing the ill effects of climate change is our moral responsibility and duty. Water conservation in Rajasthan has been an integral part of the state's c ...Read More >
Heavy rains have triggered an orange alert in five Kerala districts, leading to rising river levels and flooding. Consequently, dam shutters are being opened across the state, including Banasura Sagar and Moozhiyar. Authorities are also preparing for the potential opening of the Mullaperiyar dam, managed by Tamil Nadu, prompting evacuations in vulnerable areas of Idukki district.Heavy rains lashed various parts of Kerala with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing an orange alert in fi ...Read More >
Ponda: With the cabinet approving augmentation of the water treatment plant situated on the hill at Gawaliwada, Panchawadi, state govt is mulling raising the height of Mhaisal reservoir. The existing height of the reservoir is 26m and govt wishes to raise it by another half metre or one metre to increase storage, said minister for water resources Subhash Shirodkar.The 230-m-long dam's full reservoir level is 26m, with a total live storage of 436.8 hectare metres. The water treatment plant at Gawaliwada fetches water of around 10-18 million litres per day (MLD).Considering the rising demand for ...Read More >
GURGAON: The investigation into the murder of a 25-year-old former international tennis player, allegedly by her father, has revealed a sudden deterioration in their relationship. The apparent reason was a disagreement over the academy she ran near their house, but the roots clearly run deeper. The father, who claims to have spent Rs 2 crore on his daughter's tennis career, told interrogators he was troubled by questions about her "character" that some of his associates had raised.Deepak Yadav, who shot Radhika at their house Thursday morning, had allegedly been insisting for two weeks on her ...Read More >
Itanagar, July 12 (SocialNews.XYZ) Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed gratitude to the people of Riga village in Siang district for accepting the government plan to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) of the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), hydropower project with an estimated generation capacity of 11,000 MW. An official of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said on Saturday that people of Riga village of Siang district signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government in a meeting held on Frid ...Read More >
Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal assured the Punjab Assembly that water reservoir levels in the state remain stable despite heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh. The government is prepared to handle any emergencies, with substantial funds allocated for flood mitigation and proactive measures in place to reinforce embankments. Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal assured the assembly on Monday that the state's water reservoir levels are stable, ensuring there are cu ...Read More >
CHENNAI: Saying that a historical amount of downpour hit many districts in north Tamil Nadu, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss urged the state government to send additional rescue forces to the affected areas. In a statement, Anbumani said that during the 24 hours, Uthangarai in Krishnagiri district received 50cm of rainfall, which is the highest in the last 300 years. Moreover, Harur in the Dharmapuri district and Tirupalapanthal in Kallakurichi have received 33cm and 32cm of rain, respectively. Yercaud in Salem received 24cm of rainfall. "Vehicles parked in Krishnagiri district were washed ...Read More >
VISAKHAPATNAM: Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar inaugurated Andhra Pradesh's first Super ECBC (Energy Conservation Building Code) compliant building at Sagar Nagar in Visakhapatnam on Friday. Terming it a landmark in sustainable infrastructure, he emphasised the government's commitment to energy efficiency and green design in public facilities. The facility will serve as a national-level training hub for power sector staff. He urged power utilities to expedite 20 lakh rooftop solar connections, targeting 10,000 in each Assembly segment. He reaffirmed nine-hour uninterrupted power for agri ...Read More >
Chandigarh: Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday said the state govt was consistently working to provide better resources to the doctors and quality healthcare services to the citizens.He mentioned that medical colleges were being established in every district.While there were only six medical colleges in 2014, the number has now increased to 15, and nine new colleges are under construction. As a result, MBBS seats in the state increased from 700 in 2014 to 2,185, at present. The state govt aims to increase the MBBS seats to over 3,400 by 2029, said Saini.The CM was addressing a ...Read More >
New Delhi: Delhi Jal Board will now be able to independently execute capital-intensive projects without depending on the Delhi cabinet to approve them, chief minister Rekha Gupta said on Saturday.Gupta said the govt has restored the financial powers of DJB, which were taken away by the previous govt in the 2021-22 financial year. This will help in expediting high-cost projects such as the rejuvenation of the Yamuna, sewage treatment, and improvement of regular drinking water supply. She added that the financial powers of DJB's chairperson, chief executive officer, and other senior officials ha ...Read More >
Chennai: Farmers and social activists of Tiruppur and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu are gearing up for an indefinite protest demanding the revival of the Noyyal River, which they said has been reduced to a drain due to unchecked pollution. The protest, scheduled to begin on July 13 in Mangalam, calls on the Stalin government to take immediate steps to prevent the inflow of untreated sewage, industrial waste, and plastic into the river. K.N. Mohammed Ali, a social activist, said the Noyyal, which originates in the Western Ghats and flows through Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and Erode before joining the Ca ...Read More >
Amritsar: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey from Jharkhand has claimed that Britain assisted India in executing the 1984 Operation Bluestar at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, stoking a new controversy.In a post on X on Monday, Dubey alleged that then PM Indira Gandhi "launched an attack on the Golden Temple in collaboration with Britain", with British Army officers present in Amritsar.He uploaded a classified British document, "Sikh Community", claiming that on Feb 23, 1984, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office mentioned in a letter that the Indian govt had sought British advice over a plan to remove Si ...Read More >
GUWAHATI: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has described China's mega dam project as a ticking "water bomb" and an existential threat to the people of the frontier state and their livelihoods. Speaking to a news outlet, Khandu said the dam was a matter of grave concern, noting that China is not a signatory to any international water treaty and cannot be trusted. "No one knows what China might do. It could even use this as a sort of water bomb," he said. The hydropower dam, expected to be the world's largest of its kind, will generate 60,000 MW of power. The project is coming up o ...Read More >
New Delhi: Chief minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday said authorities cannot go against demolition orders issued by courts and stressed that displaced residents have been provided accommodation.Her words came in the wake of the recent Madrasi Camp demolition for which the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has criticised her. AAP has targeted Gupta, and alleged that the displaced Madrasi Camp residents were provided homes in faraway Narela, and those lack basic amenities.Attending an event to mark the construction of a Jan Sewa camp at a slum cluster in the Haiderpur area, Gupta told reporters: "In t ...Read More >
Chandigarh, July 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday jointly dedicated an ultra-modern 15 MGD (million gallons per day) sewage treatment plant constructed with an outlay of Rs 145.26 crore. Interacting with the media after dedicating the plant in Mohali, the Chief Minister said latest technology has been used in setting up this plant, which will be further replicated in other parts of the state. He said the motive is to save the water of the state by ensuring optimum utilisation of the wastewater as well. Cit ...Read More >
Hyderabad: The state government on Monday urged the Union jal shakti ministry to direct Andhra Pradesh to take up the required repairs to the Srisailam dam to ensure safety, and that AP be asked to not open the dam gates until the reservoir reached its full reservoir level at 885 feet. The Telangana government said water was being released through the two hydel power stations on both banks of the dam. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is scheduled to perform special prayers and initiate the opening of some of the 12 crest gates on Tuesday morning at the dam, where the water l ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Former head of Air India and chairman of the Railway Board Ashwani Lohani is the new Prime Ministers Museum and Library (PMML) director. The official order for his appointment was issued on Wednesday. A 1980-batch officer of the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering (IRSME), Lohani is known for turning around various organisations during his illustrious career. Following his retirement from IRSME service, he joined the GMR Group as the CEO. According to the order dated June 4, his appointment to the post of director, Prime Ministers Museum and Library in the rank and pa ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 29 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday attacked the Centre and Rajasthan governments over the reported plan to redraw the boundaries of the Sariska Tiger Reserve for the reactivation of over 50 mining operations, saying the move would be "ecologically devastating". The opposition party also said that with the Rajasthan and Union environment ministers both being from Alwar, this "double engine" cannot be supporting such a move. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report which claimed that a plan to redraw the boundaries of Rajasthan's ...Read More >
Inflow into the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur increased to 80,984 cusecs on Saturday. Following an increase in inflow, the Water Resources Department (WRD) issued a flood warning to people living in low-lying areas on the banks of the River Cauvery. On Saturday, the dam's water level stood at 117.93 feet against its full capacity of 120 feet. The storage level stood at 90.20 TMC against its full capacity of 93.47 TMC. At 8 a.m., inflow into the dam increased to 73,452 cusecs from Friday's inflow o ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Signalling the government's intent to move ahead with the impeachment motion of Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said that main opposition parties have given their in-principle approval to support the motion in the upcoming monsoon session scheduled for July21-August 21. Rijiju said that the government is yet to decide whether the motion would be brought in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. For the Lok Sabha, signatures of a minimum 100 MPs is required. The requirement is the support of at least 50 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. H ...Read More >
Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday announced to plant over 37 crore saplings on July 9 to bolster PM Modi's 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' initiative, stressing that "a sapling we nurture today will sustain our lives tomorrow"."If we plant flowering trees on the roads' median and give the responsibility of protecting them to NGOs or other organisations, it will give out a good message. We have to do it on expressways, highways, interstate connectivity or municipality roads... I appeal to everyone to join the campaign on July 9 from 7 am to 7 pm, and take a selfie after planting a tree," t ...Read More >
Sambalpur: The authorities of Hirakud dam in Sambalpur district on Sunday released the season's first floodwater after sounding an alert to the districts in downstream of river Mahanadi, officials said. The season's first flood water was released after a traditional puja. The sluice gate number 7 was first opened as done every year, chief engineer S K Behera told reporters. He said that at least 20 such gates were opened by 6 pm on Sunday. The chief engineer said the decision to release floodwater was taken to manage the rising water level in the reservoir following incessant rain and increas ...Read More >
Mumbai: Ports minister Nitesh Rane said the Radio Club jetty project will be taken forward as per Bombay High Court orders. Nearly 20% of the jetty work has already been completed and the facility will become operational by May next year, Rane told reporters in the Vidhan Bhavan premises."The proposed Radio Club Jetty project near Mumbai's Gateway of India received the green light from the Bombay High Court. The court dismissed all three petitions filed against the project and issued clear direct ...Read More >
Srinagar, Jul 4: Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha Friday said that he was proud to see women breaking barriers in agricultural sciences and technology. In his address at the 6th convocation ceremony of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K), the LG said, "Proud to see our daughters breaking barriers and achieving success in Agricultural Science and Technology. It reflects a bright future for J&K and the nation." During the convocation, of the 5250 degrees of undergraduate, master's, and PhD, 2661 degrees were awarded to women, of the 150 stu ...Read More >
Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed officials to transform the state into a zero-crime-rate state by leveraging technology. He emphasised that Andhra Pradesh should become a model state in law and order monitoring through effective use of technology. The Chief Minister conducted a review with officials on real-time governance at the Secretariat. He instructed that crime hotspots be continuously monitored through CCTV cameras to control criminal activities. He also directed officials to revise regulations to allow the use of footage from private CCTV cameras, stressing that ...Read More >
Gadwal: With the onset of continuous upstream rainfall and increased inflows into the Krishna river basin, water levels at the Priyadarshini Jurala Project (PJP) dam and Almatti Reservoir have shown significant rise, prompting dam authorities to regulate outflows carefully. PJP Dam Status as of 6 PM, July 11, 2025: According to information received from project officials, the water level at the PJP dam stands at 317.570 meters (1,041.896 feet). Against its Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 318.516 meters, the gross storage is recorded at 7.778 TMC, while live storage is 4.071 TMC. The dam is cu ...Read More >
BHUBANESWAR: Emphasising the importance of cleaner and greener environment for a healthy society, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday announced the government's plan of planting 7.5 crore trees across the state within the next one year. Addressing a state-level function held at the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) to celebrate World Environment Day, the chief minister said the state has achieved a net increase of approximately 560 sq km in forest and tree cover, which is the fourth-highest among all states. The common people and institutions have planted nearly ...Read More >
New Delhi: Chief minister Rekha Gupta wrote to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, urging him to take immediate steps to curb illegal sand mining in Yamuna river areas near Delhi-UP border. The CM, in a statement, said illegal activities are weakening the river's embankments, thereby increasing the risk of flooding. She also apprised UP CM of the concerns raised by National Green Tribunal (NGT) over this critical issue.In her letter, Gupta shared detailed information about the illegal sand mining taking place in Yamuna, stressing that it is causing serious ecological damage, which could pose gra ...Read More >
Tirupati/Chittoor: After chilli and tobacco farmers, mango growers are now in focus as YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy looks to raise the political heat in the state. A bumper mango yield this year has brought little joy to farmers, who are struggling with falling prices. Despite the state government's swift action, announcing subsidies and deploying officials to assist distressed farmers, the issue has turned political. Looking to capitalise on the unrest, Jagan will visit Bangarupalem market yard on July 9 to console mango farmers. In fact, the government claims that Andhra Pradesh's pr ...Read More >
New Delhi: Home minister Amit Shah on Friday chaired a high-level meeting on the rejuvenation of the Yamuna. He stressed the need for Delhi to work with its neighbouring states to check the industrial waste or effluents being discharged into the river.The meeting, attended by Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, Union housing and urban affairs minister Manohar Lal, Union jal shakti minister CR Patil, Delhi water minister Parvesh Verma and senior officials from central and state govts, saw Shah asking Delhi Pollution Control Committee to work in action mode to control water pollution. He said that ...Read More >