Heena Sharma Blog

  The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered a complete ban on the sale and use of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) from midnight Monday till November 30. The ban would also cover any city or town where the air quality goes below the ‘poor’ category on the Air Quality Index (AQI). As Delhi and adjoining cities battle worsening air quality every day, NGT said the threshold of pollution is continuously crossed in NCR and therefore an “absolute” ban is needed. Last week, the Delhi government banned firecrackers in the capital city. It was followed by Haryana which also announced complete ban of sale and burning of firecrackers. Governments of Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh, and the Calcutta High Court have already issued orders for ban on sale and use of firecrackers in the respective state/city. Read More

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday took suo motu cognisance on Visakhapatnam gas leak incident and decided to hear the matter on Friday. The matter titled "In re: Gas Leak at LG Polymers Chemical Plant in RR Venkatapuram Village Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh" will be heard by a bench headed by NGT's chairman AK Goel. Earlier today, NGO CWEL Foundation founder Banu Bansal moved a petition seeking directions by the NGT for a judicial probe into the Visakhapatnam gas leak incident, in which at least 11 people have lost their lives. The NGO sought directions to constitute a high-level committee headed by a retired Justice and officers not below the rank of joint secretary to prove the gas leakage incident. Read More