NGT Issues Notice to Centre and UP over Yamuna Pollution in Mathura, Vrindavan
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National Green Tribunal issues notice to Centre and Uttar Pradesh over Yamuna pollution in Mathura and Vrindavan. The petition claimed that the river water falls under “very poor” Category D, which was unfit for bathing or drinking, reported DTE.
The petitioners alleged that untreated sewage discharge directly in the river and unchecked illegal construction was taking place on floodplains. Authorities asked to respond on compliance with earlier NGT orders on sewage treatment and encroachment removal. Next hearing in the case scheduled for August 4, 2026.
Babies Exposed to Air Pollution During Pregnancy Take Longer to Learn to Speak, Research Finds
Infants exposed to higher levels of air pollution in the early stages of pregnancy take longer to learn to speak than those exposed to lower levels in the womb, new research has found, the Guardian reported.
The researchers found exposure to nitrogen dioxide and fine and ultra-fine particulate matter during the first trimester of pregnancy delayed speech development at 18 months.
The article noted that for premature babies, the impact was worse: as well as delayed development of their ability to speak, they were also found to have impaired motor skills.
“This research should act as a wake-up call, because air pollution is not just an environmental issue, it’s a matter of justice and equality from the very start of life,” Tyrone Scott, head of campaigns at War on Want, told the newspaper.
The researchers said it is the first study to investigate pollution exposure and development in London by measuring the language and motor skills of infants whose mothers were pregnant in the capital. But the implications are global.
With many polluting industries now outsourced from the global north, people in low-and middle-income countries in the global south suffer from the highest exposures. But even within wealthier countries the burden falls disproportionately on people from poorer and racialised communities.
Two of the World's Biggest Methane-emitting Landfill Sites in Mumbai and Secunderabad: Global Study
Satellite data shows Secunderabad and Mumbai among world’s biggest methane-emitting landfill sites in 2025, a global study has found. Study of 2,994 methane plumes from 707 waste sites worldwide include India’s mega landfills.
India is home to two of the world’s 25 largest methane-emitting landfill sites in 2025 — in Secunderabad, Telangana and Mumbai, Maharashtra — according to a new satellite-based analysis of global pollution hotspot researchers identified 25 super-emitting landfills across 18 countries. These sites represent the most acute sources of methane leaks on the planet, with emission rates so high that they are detectable from space, Carboncopy reported.
These facilities are found across the Global North and South, including Brazil, Chile, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Algeria, Argentina, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand, and the US.
As a greenhouse gas, methane is far more aggressive than carbon dioxide in the short term, possessing over 80 times the warming potential over a 20-year period.
According to the report, a single landfill emitting 5 tonnes of methane per hour contributed as much to global warming as nearly one million SUVs on the road. Specifically, the Jawahar Nagar landfill in Hyderabad and the Kanjurmarg landfill in Mumbai were flagged for their significant contributions to global warming, ranking 4th and 12th respectively.
Noise Pollution: Gujarat HC Summons Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner, Home Secy
The high court questioned top officials : Ahmedabad municipal commissioner and state home secretary and Gujarat Pollution Control Board chairman, about the non-implementation of its directions to control noise pollution, TOI reported. The judges said that "it is very painful" to note that Gujarat is still faced with the problem of noise pollution 20 years after the Supreme Court gave guidelines to curb it.
The authorities have taken the top court notification very lightly, the court said. While issuing orders for authorities to furnish an action taken report in the court the next hearing was set for June 18.
Dangerous Gas Emissions, Odour Affecting Lakhs in Kanjurmarg Landfill Vicinity Cannot be Accepted, Says Bombay HC
The Bombay High Court said that pollution and odour emitting from Kanjurmarg dumping site in suburban eastern Mumbai affecting lakhs of residents in Mulund, Vikhroli and Bhandup cannot be accepted at all.
The HC also directed the authorities to monitor and study emissions of gases, including methane, causing late night odour in the vicinity and take effective immediate steps to contain pollution.
“We can certainly notice the seriousness of concerns of petitioners as all these areas are developing areas with multi-storied buildings with lakhs of citizens residing in thickly populated areas. It cannot be that continuous pollution affecting a large population can at all be accepted,” the HC noted.
US Tech Firms Successfully Lobbied EU to Keep Data Centre Emissions Secret
Microsoft and other US tech companies successfully lobbied the EU to hide the environmental impact of their data centres, an investigation has found, with demands to block a database of green metrics from public view written almost word for word into EU rules, the Guardian reported.
The report said that legally questionable confidentiality clauses adopted almost word for word from demands of Microsoft and trade groups. The secrecy provision, which the European Commission added to its proposal almost verbatim after industry lobbying, hinders scrutiny of the pollution that individual datacentres emit. It leaves researchers with just national-level summaries of their energy footprints.
The groups who lobbied for the change are Microsoft; DigitalEurope, an industry organisation whose members include Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta; and Video Games Europe, whose members include Microsoft and Netflix, the report said.
