As residents celebrated Deepavali with enthusiasm and fervour, air pollution levels in the city crossed permissible limits on Saturday.

For several years now, the vulture in the State has had a human shadowing it, watching over the bird of prey in the Mudumalai—Sathyamangalam area.

Builders are unsure about the long-term implications of Tuesday's order on obtaining of Environmental Clearances.

Noise level-monitoring equipmenthas been installed at five locations.

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) will soon install three stations to continuously monitor ambient air quality in the city.

Except for Manali, other areas saw higher RSPM levels than previous year

A. Heera, a resident of Ajax in Tiruvottiyur, remembers a time when her area was clean and beautiful. “Now, the roads are so dusty a brown cloud hovers when vehicles pass by. The roads in our area are hardly swept and with construction work and road widening on, the dust is unimaginable,” she said.

Move is aimed at reducing the concentration of slum tenements in one location

The Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) has decided to shift around 3,500 tenements from its Perumbakkam site to other sites that are coming up around the city. According to sources, this is being done as the Board is concerned about the concentration of slum tenements in one location, and wants to reduce this. The step was taken as a cautionary measure.

13 persons admitted to CDH with symptoms of vomiting, diarrhoea; 47 others being treated

A total of 13 persons were admitted to Communicable Diseases Hospital (CDH) in Tondiarpet on Sunday with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea. According to a Chennai Corporation official, the patients are residents of north Chennai. What began as a health and sanitation issue in and around Chetpet, creating a cholera scare last week, has now spread to other parts of the city.

State Pollution Control Board says water unsuitable for potable purposes

The lake in Udhagamandalam, popularly known as Ooty, is, according to a study by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), one of the most polluted water bodies in the State. Its water quality, the study says, is unsuitable for potable purposes. A major tourist attraction in the popular hill station, the lake now emits a foul odour, thanks to untreated sewage being let out into it.

Levels of Carbon dioxide (CO2) recorded recently, caused by the burning of garbage at the Pallikaranai dump yard ranged between 515- 399 ppm (parts per million). CO2 is a major greenhouse gas.

Last Saturday, a major fire broke out at the dumping yard. Smoke from it posed both a health hazard to residents nearby and also hampered the vision of motorists in the vicinity, besides polluting the environment. Following this, the Chennai Corporation decided to suspend the dumping of garbage here.