The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the Delhi government’s reply on a plea challenging the government’s notification that bans plastic bags.

Expressing concern over the thick smog cover over Delhi and the pollution level, the Supreme Court on Tuesday indicated it would take up the issue.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Union Government, the Delhi Government, the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee on a petition by an association of plastic industries here challenging a Delhi Government notification putting a blanket ban on manufacture, sale and use of plastic bags in the Capital.

Seeking replies from the respondents, a Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Darmar Murugesan and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw asked them to respond to the petition by the All India Plastic Industries Association the next date of hearing on November 23.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed concern over smog conditions in the Capital caused by high pollution and decided to examine the problem and suggest remedial measures.

A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices S. S. Nijjar and J. Chelameswar agreed to look into the problem of smog during the course of hearing of petitions relating to disposal of toxic waste in Bhopal.

Air quality registers a marginal improvement

Having gasped for breath for nearly a week now, Delhiites breathed slightly easy on Tuesday with the air quality registering a marginal improvement. But deteriorating air quality and the dense smog that had enveloped the Capital for the past few days has prompted environmentalists to demand that urgent measures be put in place to reduce air pollution in the city.

A new species of dengue-causing mosquito — the Asian Tiger mosquito — has been spotted in Delhi and it is resistant to traditional control mechanism.

The same mosquito variety is also responsible for the sudden rise in dengue cases in Delhi, said an MCD official. Municipal officials said Asian tiger mosquito, also known as Aedes albopictus, breeds in the open as against Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which also causes dengue but breeds inside homes.

A Plastic Manufacturers’ Association today approached the Delhi High Court challenging the City Government’s notification imposing a blanket ban on plastic bags in the capital.

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought a reply from the Delhi Government’s Transport Department on a petition seeking review of an order dismissing a public interest litigation (PIL) for scrapping the BRT corridor in the Capital.

Directing the Department to file the reply by November 21, a Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Manmohan Singh asked it to clarify whether the corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand Crossing in South Delhi was on a road less than 45 metres wide as claimed by the petitioner, Nyaya Bhoomi, in the matter.

There is no end to the dengue menace in the city despite fall in temperature.

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Delhi government to respond to a review petition filed after the court dismissed a plea to scrap the Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand bus rapid transit (BRT) corrid