NGT fines Delhi govt Rs 25 crore for air pollution

The Tribunal had previously ordered the government to close down around 51,000 industries running illegally in the region. The latest move is a essentially a penalty for the government's inability to comply to the tribunal's order and the tribunal has asked the authorities to recover the amount by fining polluters and deducting the salaries of officials responsible for enforcing pollution rules.

Delhi experienced "poor" to "very poor" air quality on Monday because of local pollutants, said reports, adding that the authorities expected the air quality to deteriorate further.

The Central Pollution Control Board on Monday recorded an overall air quality index (AQI) of 314, which falls in the "very poor" category. While AQI between 0 and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 is "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301, 400 "very poor" and 401 and 500 "severe".

Last week, the Tribunal had fined the West Bengal government Rs 5 crore for failing to improve air quality in Kolkata and Howrah.  The order came after the state government failed to implement measures recommended by the NGT in an earlier order in 2016 to check air pollution.

Stating that the citizens are breathing in poison, environment crusasor Subhas Dutta told NDTV, "The chief secretary should be put behind bars."

Replying to a suggestion by a minister that more electricity-run buses be introduced could be introduced on Kolkata streets to curb pollution, Dutta said that would be no help because coal in burnt to produce the same electricity.

Kolkata's AQI was 290 on Monday.