Despite an active monsoon across parts of India, more than half of the country's major reservoirs remain below 50% capacity. Water experts warn that the real challenge is not just rainfall, but the ability to capture, store and manage it. They caution that climate change, groundwater depletion, ageing infrastructure and polluted water bodies could deepen India's water crisis in the years ahead.
The arrival of the monsoon has finally brought much-needed relief from one of northern India's hottest summers in recent years. But even as cooler winds sweep across much of the country, they cannot erase what the heat has already left behind. Before the rains arrived, schools had shortened hours, construction activity had slowed, and India's peak electricity demand had climbed to a record 270.73 GW as millions struggled to stay cool. Elsewhere, even before the monsoon had fully set in, torrential rains washed away roads, damaged crops and disrupted supply chains. None of these appeared to be an economic crisis in isolation. Taken together, however, they tell a different story. Increasingly, India's next macro-economic shock may arrive not through financial markets, but through the weather forecast. For decades, economists viewed climate change largely as an environmental concern. That distinction is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. A delayed monsoon, an extended heatwave or widespread flooding now reverberates far beyond agriculture. It influences production, employment, inflation, public finances and business confidence. Climate no longer sits outside the economy. It has become one of the forces shaping it. The evidence is becoming impossible to ignore. According to the Centre for Science and Environment, extreme weather affected 9.47 million hectares of cropped land during the first nine months of 2025—almost three times the area affected during the corresponding period a year earlier. The same assessment recorded more than 4,000 deaths and damage to nearly 100,000 houses. These are no longer isolated disasters. They are becoming recurring features of India's growth story. The first signs usually appear in the neighbourhood market. Food and beverages account for 36.75% of India's Consumer Price Index. When heatwaves, droughts or floods damage crops, supplies tighten and prices climb. Families stretch household budgets, businesses absorb higher input costs and supply chains become less predictable. Inflation increasingly begins in the sky before it reaches the supermarket. But vegetables are only where the story begins. The same heatwave that shrivels crops also slows construction sites, disrupts logistics, cuts factory productivity and keeps customers away from neighbourhood businesses. The damage spreads quietly—from fields to factories, from highways to household budgets. Every extreme weather event now carries an economic price tag. The impact is equally visible in the labour market. Heat stress shortens working hours, lowers productivity and makes outdoor work increasingly hazardous across construction, transport and India's vast informal economy. According to the International Labour Organization, rising temperatures could reduce India's total working hours by 5.8% by 2030—among the highest projected losses globally. GDP never sweats. Workers do. National income simply keeps the score. Governments, too, face mounting costs. Every flood, cyclone or drought demands spending on disaster relief, crop compensation and rebuilding damaged infrastructure. These are unavoidable expenditures, but they also divert scarce public resources from schools, hospitals and long-term investments that strengthen future growth. Climate shocks, therefore, weaken not only today's economy but tomorrow's development prospects as well. They also complicate the task of the Reserve Bank of India. Monetary policy was designed to cool demand, not cool the weather. Raising interest rates cannot replace a failed harvest, restore damaged crops or rebuild washed-away roads. Yet repeated weather-driven spikes in food prices can reshape inflation expectations, making the central bank's job increasingly difficult. Climate risk is no longer tomorrow's inflation problem. It is today's. This is precisely why climate indicators such as the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole deserve a place alongside oil prices, exchange rates and other traditional macroeconomic indicators. The monsoon has quietly become one of India's most important economic indicators. Increasingly, a weather bulletin tells us as much about tomorrow's economy as today's market report. That calls for a broader policy response. Climate adaptation is no longer simply environmental policy; it is sound macroeconomic policy. Investments in irrigation, climate-resilient agriculture, logistics, urban water systems and more accurate weather forecasting are investments in lower inflation, stronger productivity and more resilient growth. Building resilience before disasters strike is invariably less costly than rebuilding after they do. For decades, weather was treated as little more than the backdrop to India's economic story. Today, it has become part of the main narrative. The next major economic disruption may not begin in financial markets or global commodity exchanges. It may begin with a failed monsoon, a prolonged heatwave or an unexpected weather bulletin. India's future prosperity will depend not only on how fast the economy grows, but also on how well it learns to grow in a changing climate.
The India Meteorological Department's own data shows that the number of heatwave days across India has roughly doubled since 2010, with central India — Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Telangana, northern Karnataka — now routinely recording 45°C-plus ambient temperatures in May and June. Indoor temperatures in poorly ventilated, overcrowded classrooms typically run 2-4°C above ambient, according to a 2023 field study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). That means children in these regions are sitting in 44-49°C rooms.
Environmental organisations, including the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), have strongly backed the policy, arguing that accelerated EV adoption will significantly improve air quality. They have, however, urged the government to move faster in electrifying public transport and integrate renewable energy into the charging ecosystem. Greenpeace India has similarly advocated faster implementation alongside sustainable battery recycling and clean electricity for charging infrastructure.
A new study of 39 faecal sludge treatment plants across Rajasthan by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found that a technology designed to turn human waste into clean water, energy and farm-ready biochar is largely working but is falling short on key safety benchmarks, including pathogen destruction and heavy-metal contamination. The study evaluated plants commissioned in 2023-24 and operated by MVR Technology, ranging in treatment capacity from 10 to 35 kilolitres a day, spread across central and eastern Rajasthan. Most Households Rely on Septic Tanks Rather Than Sewer Networks According to the report, Rajasthan has officially achieved open-defecation-free status under the Swachh Bharat Mission, but roughly seven in ten urban households still rely on septic tanks rather than sewer networks, generating nearly 3,870 kilolitres of faecal sludge daily that existing infrastructure only partly treats. That gap has pushed the state toward plants using "pyrolysis-based Omni Processor" technology, which separates solid and liquid waste through a screw press, treats the liquid in a bioreactor, and heats the solids in a low-oxygen furnace to produce biochar, a stable, carbon-rich material that locks carbon in soil for centuries while serving as organic fertilizer. Treatment Side of the Process Worked At Most Sites The report found the treatment side of the process working effectively at most sites. Outlet pH stayed within the required 5.5-9.0 band across all plants, and suspended-solids removal topped 90% at many facilities, meeting national discharge limits. Organic pollutant removal exceeded 95% at most sites, with the majority discharging effluent that met even the strictest national standards. Disinfection using UV treatment also kept faecal coliform levels in the treated liquid within permissible limits at most locations. The biochar and biosolids produced also showed nutrient value: both maintained pH and salinity levels compliant with India's Fertilizer Control Order standards for organic manure, contained more than 14 per cent organic carbon, and had combined nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium content exceeding the regulatory minimum, making them, workable substitutes for chemical fertilizer. The report said plants at Kishangarh Renwal and Khairthal showed nitrogen well above limits, while phosphorus exceeded caps at several sites, including Kishangarh Bas. A few plants, such as Lakheri and Losal, showed unusually high dissolved-solids levels needing direct intervention. Arsenic, cadmium, and lead stayed within safe limits, but mercury and zinc frequently exceeded fertilizer-safety standards in both biosolids and biochar, mercury alone breached limits at 15 biochar sites and nearly all biosolid locations. Chromium and nickel also exceeded limits at sites such as Khairthal. Biosolids retained high levels of E. coli, Salmonella and helminth eggs at nearly every site, unfit for unrestricted use. The report showed none of the 25 larger plants met USEPA or WHO pathogen limits for open agricultural use. Even biochar, despite pyrolysis cutting pathogen loads sharply, still exceeded USEPA's Class A limit for helminth eggs at multiple sites. Recommendations The researchers proposed better dissolved-oxygen and carbon-to-nitrogen control for nitrogen removal, chemical precipitation for phosphorus, and reverse osmosis for dissolved-solids problems. For solids, they recommend optimized belt-dryer conditions, pulverizing biosolids to aid pathogen kill-off, and secure long-term storage and tighter pyrolysis temperature and residence-time control for biochar.
As India positions itself as a global textile powerhouse, the challenge of managing the growing mountain of post-consumer textile waste is becoming impossible to ignore. While conversations around circular fashion often focus on sustainable production and recycling technologies, an equally critical but underexplored aspect lies in extending the life of garments already in circulation. In this thought-provoking piece, Mr. Bajrang Saharan, Founder & CEO, Pressmate.in, argues that fabric care can emerge as a powerful enabler of India's circular fashion ambitions by reducing waste, conserving resources and encouraging responsible consumption practices. With over 15 years of experience across operations, customer experience and process-driven business management, Saharan is working to build a technology-led premium fabric and lifestyle care ecosystem while advancing sustainability, workforce skilling and greater standardisation within India's fragmented fabric care industry. Walk into any Indian household and ask where the old clothes go. The answers are telling. Some get passed down to younger siblings or domestic helpers. A few find their way into a donation box during a festive clean-up. But most end up somewhere far less considered: a bin bag, a landfill pile, an incinerator at the edge of the city that nobody talks about. India generates approximately 70.73 lakh tonnes of textile waste every year, according to the estimates of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. Additionally, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that $500 billion in clothing value is lost globally each year due to underuse and inadequate recycling. Research from the Centre for Science and Environment also notes that the average Indian consumer does not wear a garment more than ten times over its entire life. Around 41 percent of textiles in India are incinerated, landfilled or discarded after just one or two uses. Against the backdrop of an industry projected to reach $250 billion by 2030, that waste trail is growing faster than most people acknowledge. The missing link nobody is talking about Conversations about circular fashion in India tend to cluster around two ends of the supply chain: cleaner production upstream and better recycling infrastructure downstream. The middle, what happens to a garment in the hands of a consumer over its usable life, rarely gets the same attention. That middle is fabric care, and its role in circular fashion is considerably more consequential than it sounds. A garment washed in very hot water, tumble-dried at high heat and ironed aggressively loses structural integrity far sooner than one handled with basic consideration. Fibres break down, colours fade faster and fabric thins out in ways that accelerate the garment's journey toward the waste bin. The environmental cost of producing a single cotton t-shirt, estimated at roughly 2,700 litres of water, is effectively written off when that garment is discarded after five washes rather than fifty. Fabric longevity is not a side conversation to circular fashion. It is its quietest and most underused lever. Where the industry stands toda India's recycling infrastructure tells a story of genuine capacity alongside significant fragmentation. The country operates over 900 recycling units and supports approximately 40 to 45 lakh workers across collection, sorting and processing. Panipat in Haryana has long served as Asia's premier textile recycling centre, drawing waste from clusters across the country and converting it into recycled yarn and industrial blankets. A March 2026 report by India's Ministry of Textiles found that more than 70 percent of textile waste is already being recovered and channelled into some form of recycling, reuse or upcycling. Of total waste generated, 42 percent originates from pre-consumer manufacturing stages, of which 95 percent is being recycled. Post-consumer recovery tells a less encouraging story. Fifty-eight percent of waste comes from households and retail, and only 55 percent of that is currently being diverted from landfills. (Source: Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, 'Textile Waste Management in India' Report, March 2026.) The gap sits squarely in the hands of the end consumer. Collection systems for post-consumer garments remain patchy, underfunded and largely dependent on informal waste pickers. Formal take-back and garment return programmes that have become standard in European markets are almost entirely absent at scale here. The broader sustainability ecosystem: recycling, take-back and textile waste management Fabric care sits within a wider ecosystem of circular practices that together determine whether a garment completes a full lifecycle loop or exits the system prematurely. Textile recycling in India operates at two levels. Pre-consumer recycling, which handles factory cuttings and rejected stock, is already well-integrated into the supply chain, particularly in manufacturing hubs such as Tiruppur, Surat and Ludhiana. Post-consumer recycling is far more nascent. Collected garments typically enter one of three streams: mechanical shredding into recycled fibre or industrial rags, chemical processing to recover virgin-equivalent material, or upcycling by artisan cooperatives into new products. Each stream requires infrastructure, sorting expertise and market linkages that remain inconsistently distributed across the country. Textile waste management in urban India faces a structural problem: municipal solid waste systems were not designed to separate fibre from other materials. Clothes and fabric end up mixed with general household waste and are rarely recovered at the point of collection. Several city-level pilots, including initiatives in Bengaluru, Pune and Delhi, have attempted dedicated textile collection bins in residential neighbourhoods. Results have been mixed, with sorting discipline among residents proving harder to achieve than bin placement. Take-back programmes represent the most direct intervention a brand can make in closing the loop on its own products. In practice, these range from in-store drop points for worn garments, to trade-in schemes offering discounts on new purchases, to mail-back programmes for items purchased online. Globally, many apparel companies have successfully adopted garment collection, resale and donation programmes, demonstrating that consumers readily participate in circular fashion initiatives when the process is convenient and easy to access. Indian brands are beginning to explore this space, though formal, scaled programmes remain limited. A small number of direct-to-consumer labels have piloted take-back or repair schemes, and brands have incorporated circular principles into product design through initiatives like the traditional Gudri technique, which patches together fabric scraps from tailors and factories to reduce textile waste. The challenge across the board is two-fold: logistics in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities make garment collection expensive, and the economics of resale or recycling often do not cover collection costs without subsidy or mandate. The role of brands in building this ecosystem extends well beyond take-back. Design choices made at the product development stage, such as avoiding composite fabrics that are difficult to separate, labelling garments with fibre content clearly, and eliminating embellishments that contaminate recycling streams, determine whether a garment can meaningfully re-enter circulation after use. Design for disassembly is increasingly being recognised not as an aesthetic constraint but as a supply chain responsibility. The policy moment that cannot be ignored That is beginning to change. The European Union's decision to ban the destruction of unsold apparel takes effect for large companies from July 2026. Since India is one of Europe's major textile suppliers, this regulation is already reshaping export conversations. Buyers are increasingly treating circularity compliance as a procurement requirement rather than a differentiating bonus, which means the pressure on Indian manufacturers to demonstrate responsible practices is now commercial, not just ethical. Domestically, Bharat Tex 2025 placed textile waste and circularity at the centre of its agenda, with the Prime Minister underscoring India's strategic opportunity to turn textile waste into economic value. The Ministry of Textiles projects that textile recycling could grow into a $3.5 billion market by 2030, generating approximately one lakh new green jobs. (Source: Ministry of Textiles, Government of India; Bharat Tex 2025 official proceedings.) International alliances are adding momentum: the ReSTART Alliance, convened by Fashion for Good and IDH, has committed to bringing one million tonnes of recycled fibres back into global supply chains by 2030, with India positioned as a central node. What each stakeholder must do Systemic change requires movement at every level. Brands need to lead on design for durability and circularity. Fibre composition, stitching quality and dye integrity all determine how long a garment remains wearable, and those decisions happen long before a product reaches a consumer. Equally important are the upstream design choices around fibre blends and component materials that determine whether a garment can be mechanically or chemically recycled at end of life. Retailers can strengthen take-back programmes and repair services that extend product life rather than encouraging replacement. Several Indian brands are beginning to demonstrate that repair infrastructure builds genuine customer loyalty while reducing waste simultaneously. Retailers operating in cities with better logistics coverage are well-placed to pilot garment return schemes that feed directly into local recycling units, creating a closed loop within a manageable geography. For consumers, the shift is more behavioural than financial. Cold water washing, air drying, fabric-appropriate detergents and considered storage practices can meaningfully extend the usable life of most garments. These are not complicated habits. They are practices that the pace and pricing of fast fashion has quietly eroded over the past decade. Choosing to keep a garment in circulation for ten more wears rather than discarding it early has a compounding effect that no amount of downstream recycling can fully replicate. Waste management agencies and municipalities also have a role. Dedicated textile collection infrastructure, pilot EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) frameworks for apparel, and public-private partnerships with recyclers can collectively formalise what is currently an informal and fragmented system. Several state governments are beginning to explore textile waste in the context of broader solid waste management reforms. The larger picture India is simultaneously the world's second-largest cotton producer, one of its largest textile exporters and one of its most significant sources of textile waste. That combination is not a contradiction. It is an opportunity with a very specific shape. The circular fashion economy being built here is not yet complete. Infrastructure exists in patches, policy is still forming and consumer awareness has barely begun to match the scale of what is needed. But the building blocks are present in ways they are not in most other countries. What is missing is a shared understanding that a garment's life does not begin at the point of sale or end at the point of discard. The choices made in between, how it is washed, how long it is kept, how thoughtfully it is passed on, and ultimately how it is collected, sorted and returned to useful material, are precisely where the circular economy either gains traction or loses it. Fabric care sits at the centre of that space, and it deserves considerably more attention than it currently gets.
लगातार हो रही मानसूनी बारिश ने दिल्लीवासियों को बड़ी राहत दी है। राजधानी की हवा करीब तीन साल बाद पहली बार 'गुड' (अच्छी) श्रेणी में पहुंच गई है। केंद्रीय प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड (CPCB) के अनुसार, गुरुवार को दिल्ली का एयर क्वालिटी इंडेक्स (AQI) 48 दर्ज किया गया, जबकि एक दिन पहले यह 59 था। AQI का 0 से 50 के बीच होना 'गुड' श्रेणी माना जाता है। दिल्ली में इससे पहले 10 सितंबर 2023 को हवा की गुणवत्ता 'गुड' श्रेणी में पहुंची थी। उस समय भी भारी बारिश और जी-20 सम्मेलन के दौरान लागू विशेष प्रतिबंधों के कारण प्रदूषण का स्तर कम हुआ था। क्या कहते है विशेषज्ञों? विशेषज्ञों का कहना है कि मानसून की बारिश प्राकृतिक एयर प्यूरीफायर की तरह काम करती है। बारिश की बूंदें हवा में मौजूद PM2.5, PM10, धूल, धुआं और अन्य प्रदूषक कणों को अपने साथ जमीन पर ले आती हैं। इस प्रक्रिया को वैज्ञानिक भाषा में 'वेट डिपोजिशन' कहा जाता है। बारिश के साथ तेज हवाएं भी प्रदूषण कम करने में मदद करती हैं। इससे सड़कों और निर्माण स्थलों की धूल कम उड़ती है और प्रदूषक वातावरण में जमा नहीं हो पाते। यही वजह है कि मानसून के दौरान दिल्ली की हवा सामान्य दिनों की तुलना में काफी साफ हो जाती है। केवल बारिश स्थायी समाधान नहीं- विशेषज्ञ हालांकि, पर्यावरण विशेषज्ञों का कहना है कि केवल बारिश से दिल्ली की प्रदूषण समस्या का स्थायी समाधान नहीं हो सकता। सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरमेंट (CSE) की विशेषज्ञों के अनुसार, साफ हवा बनाए रखने के लिए पूरे साल वाहनों, उद्योगों, निर्माण कार्य, कूड़ा जलाने और अन्य प्रदूषण फैलाने वाले स्रोतों से होने वाले उत्सर्जन को कम करना जरूरी है। आंकड़ों के मुताबिक, वर्ष 2015 में AQI प्रणाली लागू होने के बाद से अब तक दिल्ली में केवल 15 दिन ही ऐसे रहे हैं, जब हवा 'गुड' श्रेणी में रही। यानी औसतन साल में सिर्फ एक या दो दिन ही राजधानी को पूरी तरह साफ हवा मिल पाती है। दिल्ली में AQI सबसे कम 23 दर्ज किया गया दिल्ली के अलग-अलग इलाकों में हवा की गुणवत्ता में भी अंतर देखने को मिला। डॉ. कर्णी सिंह शूटिंग रेंज क्षेत्र का AQI सबसे कम 23 दर्ज किया गया, वहीं, जहांगीरपुरी इलाके में AQI 102 रहा, जो 'मॉडरेट' श्रेणी में आता है। विशेषज्ञों का कहना है कि बारिश लोगों को कुछ समय के लिए राहत जरूर दिला सकती है, लेकिन जैसे ही मानसून समाप्त होता है, प्रदूषण फिर बढ़ने लगता है। इसलिए दिल्ली में सालभर प्रदूषण के स्रोतों पर प्रभावी नियंत्रण ही साफ हवा का स्थायी समाधान हो सकता है।
Climate change isn't just an environmental issue anymore. It has become a mental health issue too. A survey by Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment found that 94% Indian youth are anxious about climate change. Another recent study found a marked generational gap in climate anxiety. Many young people worry about questions that previous generations rarely had to ask. Will there be enough water to drink in the future? Will my children inherit a planet that's safe? Will my career be affected by climate disasters? They're real concerns born out of real events.
: Heavy rain cleaned Delhi’s air on Thursday, with the air quality index (AQI) improving to 48, from 59 a day earlier. As a result, residents could enjoy ‘good’ air for the first time in nearly three years. The city last recorded such a day on Sept 10, 2023, when the AQI dropped to 45 following rainfall and restrictions imposed during the G20 summit. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) classifies an AQI of 0-50 as ‘good’, 51-100 as ‘satisfactory’ and 101-200 as ‘moderate’, 201-300 as ‘poor’, 301-400 as ‘very poor’, 401-450 as ‘severe’, and 451 and above as ‘severe plus. Of the 38 active continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS), Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range was the cleanest on Thursday with an AQI of just 23. Jahangirpuri was the most polluted with the AQI reaching 102. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, said, “This reaffirms the fact that monsoon rains have a strong washout effect on pollution and clean the air. However, we need roundthe-year action on all key sources of pollution and a clean- and zero-emission roadmap to minimise the seasonality in air quality trends and sustain this impact.” Since CPCB began measuring AQI in 2015, Delhi has recorded good air quality only after spells of heavy rainfall or when polluting activities were significantly reduced due to lockdown or restrictions. Overall, Delhi has seen only 15 such air days till now in the past 11 years. Sept 10 was the only such day in 2023. Delhi did not record a single ‘good’ air day in 2015, 2016 and 2018. In 2017, there were two such days during monsoon — on July 30 and 31. A similar pattern was seen in 2019, when the AQI fell to 49 on two consecutive days — on Aug 18 and 19. The highest number of good air days was seen in 2020 during the pandemic. One was in March during the Covid-19 lockdown, while four were recorded in August during monsoon. In 2021, Delhi witnessed just one good air day on Oct 18, when persistent rainfall across the city and neighbouring districts brought the AQI down to 46. The following year, the capital recorded three such days in Sept and Oct, with rainfall once again playing a key role in improving air quality.
Thursday offered a rare sight for a city that spends much of the year battling hazardous air pollution, and a rarer statistic. Delhi’s air quality slipped into the “good” category for the first time in nearly three years, giving residents a fleeting sense of what it actually feels like to breathe clean air. The continuous monsoon rains washed the pollutants away from the atmosphere and the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital came down to 48 from 59 a day earlier. An AQI between 0 and 50 is classified as “good” by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the cleanest category on India’s air quality scale. It may be a small numeric change but crossing the barrier from 51 to 48 is symbolically significant for Delhi. This is the city’s first “good” air day since September 10, 2023, when heavy rains and G20-related restrictions had also helped lower pollution levels. More importantly, it is a reminder of two contrasting realities: Delhi’s air can become clean remarkably quickly under the right weather conditions, but keeping that improvement remains one of the city’s biggest environmental challenges. Why a couple of days of rain was significant Monsoon rain is nature’s giant air purifier. Scientists call this process “wet deposition,” or the washout effect. While moving through the atmosphere, raindrops collect suspended particles like PM2. 5, PM10, dust, soot and other pollutants and bring them to the ground. The immediate effect is that the airborne particulate matter drops. Heavy rains also cut down on dust from roads and construction sites, two of Delhi’s biggest sources of pollution during dry months. Then, also, strong monsoon winds help, dispersing pollutants rather than allowing them to build up over the city. The recent improvement again shows how powerful the cleansing effect of the monsoon can be, says Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment. But she warns that the weather alone will not solve Delhi’s pollution crisis. Continuous improvements require year-round action to curb emissions from transport, industries, construction, waste burning and other major pollution sources. A city that seldom breathes easy Seen in historical perspective, the latest milestone is even more remarkable. In the 11 years since the CPCB launched the AQI system in 2015, Delhi has seen only 15 “good” air days. That averages out to just one or two days a year. There were several years, including 2015, 2016 and 2018, with no “good” air quality days. The pattern is disturbingly the same. Almost all of these rare clean-air days occurred after heavy monsoon rains or during times of greatly reduced human activity. In the monsoon of 2017, Delhi saw two "good" air days in late July. Two more followed in 2019, after heavy rains in August. The city’s cleanest spell was in 2020 when it had five “good” days of air, one during the nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 and four during the monsoon season. On October 18, 2021, continuous rain brought down the AQI to 46. Three such days were recorded during September and October in 2022. Only one day in 2023 met the “good” standard, helped by rain and temporary restrictions tied to the G20 Summit. The pattern suggests a sobering truth: Delhi rarely gets to clean air via emission reductions alone. Weather and emissions The problem with pollution in Delhi is that the weather plays a dominant role and that is not understood often. Low wind speeds and temperature inversion in winter result in cold temperatures and the accumulation of pollutants near the ground. Cars, industry and biomass burning also regularly emit emissions that can accumulate quickly and form harmful smog. During monsoon the opposite happens Rain washes particles out of the atmosphere, humidity suppresses dust and stronger winds disperse pollutants more widely. In other words, week-to-week emissions in Delhi may not change much but the ambient capacity to dilute or remove those emissions varies enormously.
Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director at the Centre for Science and Environment, has said that while some pollutants fall, others such as nitrogen oxides and toxic carbonyl compounds can increase with higher ethanol content. For this, Roychowdhury called for India to adopt emission regulations similar to Brazil’s. Producing ethanol is also water- and fertiliser-intensive, and higher ethanol blends can increase evaporative emissions that contribute to smog in warmer weather. Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday that any move to E25 petrol — a blend of 25% ethanol with petrol — remains under evaluation, and that the government has not taken a decision on its rollout. Speaking in New Delhi, Puri said ongoing tests would need to be completed and their findings discussed with vehicle manufacturers and other stakeholders before any shift beyond the current E20 blend was considered, ANI reported. The clarification comes amid a sustained backlash against E20, the 20% ethanol blend that has become India’s default petrol grade. Commuters and opposition politicians — including Karnataka Congress chief BK Hariprasad and Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal — have said the fuel has reduced mileage and pushed up repair costs, and have questioned why pump prices have not fallen despite a blend that is supposed to be cheaper to produce than pure petrol. The government has maintained that E20 is safe for compliant vehicles, citing extensive testing by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and carmakers.
What happens when a company cares just as much about protecting the planet as it does about making money? You get an 'ecopreneur'. Times Internet Ecopreneur Awards have been looking all over India for these inspiring green champions, and the search is almost over. After reviewing lots of amazing nominations, the expert judges have finally picked the winners. These pioneers will be revealed to the world at a grand finale in New Delhi on the 17th of July, 2026. Get ready to meet the forward-thinkers who are showing that doing good business can also mean creating a better world. As India's top award for sustainable business leadership, this is the country's first and only platform set up strictly to celebrate companies that dare to put the earth first. The programme honours brave innovators who are changing how modern business works, from brand-new, climate-friendly start-ups to well-known, established companies. We hand out awards across 25 different categories, including EcoTech and Climate Innovation, Sustainable Mobility, Circular Economy, Sustainable Fashion, and Water Conservation. To make sure the judging is fair and thorough, every entry gets scored on a strict scale. We look closely at their sustainability impact, innovation, ability to grow (scalability), the strength of their business model, and how they help the community. Naturally, a big job like this needs genuine experts, and our awards boast a brilliant panel of India's most respected voices in climate action. Our judges include Rajneesh Sareen, Director of the Sustainable Habitat Programme at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), who brings vital knowledge in climate-friendly design and town planning. He's joined by Dr Blossom Kochhar, a clean beauty expert and aromatherapy pioneer with over 35 years of experience. The panel also includes Bhupinder Bhalla, an IAS officer who, during his time as Secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, played a massive part in getting India's National Green Hydrogen Mission off the ground. Then there's Swami Prem Parivartan though most people know him affectionately as Peepal Baba. Through his Give Me Trees Trust, he’s been the driving force behind planting roughly 25 million trees. Rounding out the group is the iconic designer Ritu Beri, a true champion for sustainability who essentially put Indian fashion on the global map. Taking home one of these awards is about a lot more than just adding a shiny new trophy to the cabinet. It offers genuine, nationwide recognition and a specific brand badge that tells everyone your business actually walks the walk when it comes to sustainability. Because this nod of approval comes straight from top experts, winners will tap into huge media exposure across the Times of India network, and perhaps the biggest perk is the networking. The platform completely opens doors, connecting winners with fellow green champions, key policymakers, and the kind of mindful investors who are actively funding India’s eco-friendly future. Ultimately, it gives winners a distinct edge over the competition, showing today's conscious shoppers that putting the planet first is simply smart business.
राजधानी में गुरुवार को हुई भारी बारिश से हवा साफ हो गई और एयर क्वालिटी इंडेक्स (AQI) 48 पर आ गया। इस वजह से शहर के लोग लगभग तीन साल में पहली बार अच्छी हवा में सांस ले पाए। इससे पहले आखिरी बार 10 सितंबर 2023 में दिल्ली का AQI गिरकर 45 हो गया था। राजधानी दिल्ली और एनसीआर के शहरों में गुरुवार को हुई जोरदार मॉनसूनी बारिश के चलते सितंबर 2023 के बाद दिल्ली की हवा भी सबसे साफ महसूस की गई। दिल्ली में गुरुवार को 24 घंटे का औसत वायु गुणवत्ता सूचकांक (एक्यूआई) 48 दर्ज किया गया, जो करीब दो साल 10 महीने में सबसे साफ हवा का स्तर है। इससे पहले दिल्ली का एक्यूआई 10 सितंबर, 2023 को 45 दर्ज किया गया था। केंद्रीय प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड (सीपीसीबी) के आंकड़ों के अनुसार शून्य से 50 के बीच एक्यूआई को 'अच्छा', 51 से 100 को 'संतोषजनक', 101 से 200 को 'मध्यम', 201 से 300 को 'खराब', 301 से 400 को 'बहुत खराब' और 401 से 500 को 'गंभीर' श्रेणी में माना जाता है। तुकमीरपुर में सबसे अधिक 160 मिमी बारिश मौसम विभाग (आईएमडी) के अनुसार, शहर के मुख्य मौसम केंद्र सफदरजंग में गुरुवार सुबह 8:30 बजे तक पिछले 24 घंटों में 72.6 मिमी बारिश दर्ज की गई। वहीं उत्तर-पूर्वी दिल्ली के खजूरी स्थित तुकमीरपुर में सबसे अधिक 160 मिमी बारिश हुई। पूरी दिल्ली में आज भी येलो अलर्ट मौसम विभाग (आईएमडी) ने शुक्रवार को भी पूरी दिल्ली में दिन के समय चमक और गरज के साथ हल्की आंधी-बारिश का येलो अलर्ट जारी किया है। इस दौरान 30 से 40 किलोमीटर प्रतिघंटा की रफ्तार से हवाएं भी चल सकती हैं। वहीं शुक्रवार को अधिकतम तापमान 32 से 34 डिग्री सेल्सियस और न्यूनतम तापमान 24 से 26 डिग्री सेल्सियस के आसपास रहने की संभावना है। प्रदूषण धोने में मॉनसूनी बारिश सबसे असरदार सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट में रिसर्च और एडवोकेसी की एग्जीक्यूटिव डायरेक्टर अनुमिता रॉयचौधरी ने कहा कि मॉनसून की बारिश प्रदूषण को काफी हद तक धो देती है और इससे हवा साफ होती है, यह बात फिर साबित हो गई है। हालांकि, वायु गुणवत्ता में मौसम के हिसाब से होने वाले बदलावों को कम करने और इस असर को बनाए रखने के लिए हमें प्रदूषण के सभी मुख्य स्रोतों पर सालभर कार्रवाई करने और एक साफ-सुथरे व जीरो-एमिशन वाले रोडमैप की जरूरत है।
"The recent improvement again shows how powerful the cleansing effect of the monsoon can be," said Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director (Research and Advocacy) at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) as reported by TOI.
In an interview with India Today, Sunita Narain, Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment, discussed the climate crisis and the recent surge in tree fall incidents across major Indian cities highlights a severe failure in urban planning and civic governance. Cities like Mumbai and Delhi are witnessing unprecedented damage, with thousands of trees falling due to rampant concretisation and archaic forestry rules that prevent essential scientific pruning.
India has recorded 5,25,627 fire alerts so far in 2026, the second-highest annual total since 2012, according to Global Nature Watch (formerly Global Forest Watch), the World Resources Institute’s forest monitoring platform. An analysis by Down To Earth magazine found that fire activity in the first two months of the year ran more than 80 per cent above the average of the past decade, with fires growing both more frequent and more intense. In the four weeks to early July 2026, Telangana recorded the highest number of fire alerts of any Indian region tracked by Global Nature Watch’s rolling dashboard, 14 in total, accounting for 21 per cent of alerts detected across India in that period. The figure shows a short-term, region-specific reading rather than the national annual trend, on which Odisha and the north-eastern States remain the most fire-affected over the long term. Severe forest fires have long been an annual reality in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. This year has also brought serious outbreaks across central and north-eastern India.