Pakistan Tops Pollution List, India Sixth

By BPN News Desk March 24, 2026

Environment Pollution

Pakistan was ranked the world’s most polluted country in 2025, while India was placed sixth, according to a new global air quality assessment based on PM2.5 levels. The findings have once again placed South Asia at the centre of the global pollution crisis, with multiple cities from India and

Op-Eds Opinion

From Pollution To Progress: Maharashtra’s Scrappage Policy Can Boost Auto Industry And Clean The Air

By BPN News Desk March 8, 2026

The Maharashtra government led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced motor vehicle tax concessions for citizens who scrap older vehicles and purchase new ones. At first glance the decision may appear to be a routine transport policy, but in reality it addresses several long-standing challenges simultaneously. Maharashtra’s rapidly expanding vehicle population

Op-Eds Opinion

Nature Gives India Nine Clean AQI Months, Policy Must Control the Other Three

By BPN News Desk February 28, 2026

Every winter, the same script plays out. AQI levels spike across major Indian cities, outrage dominates television debates, courts step in with emergency directions, and governments scramble to impose short-term bans. By March, the winds shift, temperatures rise, the air clears, and the crisis quietly disappears. The annual panic subsides not because policy solved the […]

Op-Eds Opinion

Bombay High Court Is Right on Air Pollution, MPCB and MMRDA Must Also Be Held Accountable

By BPN News Desk January 24, 2026

The Bombay High Court’s decision to openly question the failure of civic authorities to control air pollution, and its warning that salaries of top municipal commissioners could be stopped, deserves clear appreciation. In a system where air pollution has been normalised as a seasonal inconvenience rather than treated as a public health emergency, judicial intervention […]

Defence National

Rajnath Singh Commissions Coast Guard Pollution Vessel

By BPN News Desk January 5, 2026

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh commissioned the Indian Coast Guard’s first indigenously designed and built pollution control vessel at a ceremony in Goa. The induction marks a key step in strengthening India’s maritime environmental protection and coastal security capabilities. Role and Capabilities of the Vessel The newly commissioned vessel is designed to respond to

North India State News

Delhi Transport Minister Flags Pollution Impact, Says He Gets Infections

By BPN News Desk December 24, 2025

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has highlighted the serious air pollution situation in Delhi, saying the transport sector contributes around 40% of emissions and describing personal health effects after spending time in the city. His comments came at a book launch event in New Delhi on Tuesday as the national capital […]

Health

Centre Says No Conclusive AQI–Lung Disease Link

By BPN News Desk December 21, 2025

The Union government has told Parliament that there is no conclusive scientific data establishing a direct causal link between higher Air Quality Index (AQI) levels and specific lung diseases. The statement was made in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha on the health impact of air pollution, particularly in regions that frequently record […]

Op-Eds Opinion

Changing the AQI Won’t Change What We Breathe

By BPN News Desk December 18, 2025

India’s air pollution crisis was never a mystery. It was visible, measurable, and deadly. Smog-filled winters, rising asthma cases, emergency room surges, and repeated judicial interventions made one thing clear: the air was toxic, and the state was failing to control it. Faced with this reality, the government had two choices. Fix the problem or […]

North India State News

Delhi Bans Entry of Non-BS VI Private Vehicles

By BPN News Desk December 18, 2025

New pollution control rules came into force in Delhi on Thursday, banning the entry of private vehicles registered outside the city that do not meet BS-VI emission standards as part of efforts to curb worsening air quality. The restriction is part of the city’s Stage IV Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP-IV), triggered by sustained severe […]

North India State News

Delhi Imposes Vehicle and Office Restrictions to Cut Pollution

By BPN News Desk December 17, 2025

Delhi authorities have tightened emergency pollution control measures as air quality in the capital slipped into the severe category. The city government has imposed restrictions on vehicle movement and reduced office attendance in an effort to curb emissions and protect public health during the ongoing smog crisis. Limits on Vehicles and Traffic Movement As part […]