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CPCB report finds Delhi-NCR and Mumbai have the highest ozone exceedances among 10 monitored regions
Tribunal told high summer ozone linked to transport, industry and power emissions
Joint committee reports native forest tree species missing from diverted land given to Radha Soami Satsang Beas
Evidence points to large-scale felling and replacement with commercial timber and horticultural crops
NGT directs Rajasthan authorities to act against encroachments in Nahargarh Wildlife Sanctuary
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), in a report submitted before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on September 25, 2025, stated that ozone levels were analysed in 10 regions cited in the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report covering 178 monitoring locations/stations. The analysis, based on the 2 per cent exceedance criteria of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), has been carried out.
Delhi-National Capital Region and Mumbai Metropolitan regions reported higher exceedances of ozone concentration compared to other regions, the CPCB report said. Tropospheric, or ground-level ozone, is formed primarily from complex non-linear photochemical reactions between two major classes of air pollutants: volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). In addition, carbon monoxide (CO) and methane (CH₄) emitted by residential and agricultural sources also play a role in ozone formation.
These reactions typically depend upon the presence of heat and sunlight, resulting in higher ambient ozone concentrations in summer months. Elevated levels could be attributed to emissions from the transport sector, power plants, and industrial activities, which collectively contribute to the overall NOx emission load.
The NGT was further informed that in a similar matter before the tribunal, the CPCB had filed a report on December 20, 2024. In that report, a study was proposed to identify and recommend specific measures for planning and controlling the sources of ozone and its precursors.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) recommended the constitution of an expert committee composed of specialists in the relevant field, with a report to be submitted in a time-bound manner, as mentioned in the CPCB’s submission.
Further, by order of August 21, 2025, the NGT granted time to the MoEF&CC to indicate the proposed Terms of Reference for the expert committee and the names of experts proposed to be included. The matter has been listed for November 12, 2025.
The NGT, March 21, 2025 had directed the CPCB to reply on the news item appearing in Down to Earth, August 6, 2024 titled CSE report finds dangerous increase in ozone pollution across urban India.
The Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), Dera Baba Jaimal Singh, was handed over possession of 40.34 hectares of land at village Bir Ghaggar, District Panchkula, Haryana, along with 4,322 trees of different species and 1,128 saplings. However, the native forest tree species handed over are largely missing, stated a report dated August 28, 2025 filed by a joint committee constituted by the NGT order of April 7, 2025.
Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Dera Baba Jaimal Singh, had moved a proposal in 1992 for diversion of 40.34 hectares of forest land for setting up a satsang centre at Bir Ghaggar. Approval was granted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1998. The possession of the land along with trees was handed over on March 24, 1998 by the Haryana forest department.
The application filed before the NGT alleged illegal felling of trees. The committee carried out an on-site inspection on July 31, 2025 to ascertain the extent of felling. The land is situated in the Shivalik Hills along the bank of the Ghaggar river, and is part of an adjacent contiguous forest with undulating terrain.
During inspection, it was found that the entire 100 acres (40.34 hectares) had been diverted as per MoEF&CC approval. Commercial tree species such as teak and horticultural trees of citrus fruits and sapota (chiku), have been raised in different patches.
“The native forest tree species that were handed over are largely missing,” the submission said. Only a few scattered trees of native species remain. The 4,322 trees and 1,128 saplings are largely missing, which clearly indicates that the forest tree species have been felled and removed.
However, the exact number of felled trees cannot be ascertained because the land has been pulverised, levelled and developed into gardens of different sizes. No old stumps are visible. It is therefore difficult to quantify the number of trees illegally felled, but it is evident that the present composition of tree species differs entirely from those originally handed over, indicating removal of native trees and replacement with commercial timber and horticultural crops, the report added.
The joint committee noted that the only reliable electronic evidence available regarding land use change was open-source Google Earth imagery. The oldest image available is from 1985, though it is unclear. Clear images are available only from April 2009 onwards, and show that various patches had already been cleared of natural vegetation before 2009, with the land use plan remaining more or less the same since then.
Hence, the felling of native forest species seems correct to the extent that the present vegetation differs from the trees originally handed over, but exact quantification of loss is not possible.
During the site visit, built structures were also verified and found correct. The report recalled that final approval under the then Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (now Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980) was granted by the MoEF&CC on January 6, 1998 for diversion of 40.34 hectares of forest land in favour of Radha Soami Satsang Beas for setting up the satsang centre in Ambala district, with four conditions.
Condition number three stated: “The forest land diverted shall be utilised only for plantation of trees and no construction will be undertaken over this land.” However, natural tree species were cleared, and RSSB constructed structures and proposed new ones, such as a Bal Satsang shed and an extension of the existing satsang shed, resulting in changes to the layout.
The Chief Wildlife Warden of Rajasthan, “being custodian of national parks, sanctuaries and wildlife of the state”, was directed by the NGT on September 23, 2025 to file an affidavit within two weeks regarding action taken against encroachments and their removal from the area of Nahargarh Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Chief Wildlife Warden was also directed “again” on September 23, 2025 to “initiate necessary action against the field officials by fixing the responsibility as per the government norms whose inaction/negligence have allowed the encroachments to take place in the sanctuary to this extent”.
The NGT’s central bench directed that all matters regarding identification and demarcation of Nahargarh Wildlife Sanctuary be tagged along with the application and posted on December 18, 2025.