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The Supreme Court on November 3, 2025, directed the Commission for Air Quality Management and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to place on record an affidavit indicating the steps proposed to be taken to prevent air pollution levels from deteriorating further or turning severe within one week.
A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran issued the direction after it was told that most air quality monitoring stations in the national capital remained closed during Diwali.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on November 3, 2025, directed authorities to file a reply on the complaint of pollution caused in the Katha river, a tributary of the Yamuna.
The NGT directed notice to be issued among others to the National Mission for Clean Ganga; Central Ground Water Board; Central Water Commission; CPCB; Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board and the groundwater department, Uttar Pradesh. The case would be heard next on February 3, 2026.
The applicant, Amit Kumar, stated that the river originates in Saharanpur district, passes through Shamli district and ultimately merges with the Yamuna within Shamli district.
Kumar alleged that there is rampant discharge of untreated sewage and effluents on to the riverbed and there are widespread unlawful encroachments along the natural course of the river. He also furnished photographs to support his submission.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has not accorded any approval nor received any proposal under Section 2 of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 from the Government of Haryana with respect to the diversion of forest land in the Aravallis in Rajawas village for non-forest purposes.
The report submitted by MoEFCC to the NGT on October 30, 2025, stated that prior approval under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan), Adhiniyam, 1980 is mandatory to carry out any non-forestry activity on forest land.
To ascertain the correct position and truthfulness of the matter, MoEFCC requested Haryana to take cognizance of the matter and submit a factual report with the documentary evidence on the contentions raised in the application filed before the NGT and whether any violation of Van Adhiniyam, 1980 has taken place. The report from the state government is awaited.
The application was registered suo motu on the basis of a news item titled Notified Aravalli forest portion sold for mining appearing in the Times of India on September 15, 2024.
The news report stated that on July 20, 2023, the Haryana forest department officially declared 506 acres (204.7 hectares) of the Aravalli tract in Rajawas village as ‘protected forest’ under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980.
On the same day, the mining department conducted an e-auction for 119.5 acres (48.3 hectares) of the newly protected land. A company won the bid and was awarded a 10-year lease on August 4, 2023, to quarry stones and operate three stone crushers, with a capacity of up to 1.4 metric tonnes per annum. It is also reported that the forest department stated that no No Objection Certificate has been issued by the forest department.