Shashank Shekhar Singh, Singh SK and Shuchita Garg
After Independence, the city of Delhi became a major center of commerce, industry and education. The rapid urbanization of Delhi along with the level of growth in economic activities in the city and its surrounding areas stressed the natural environment significantly. Among the environmental problems, air pollution, water pollution, loss of biodiversity, municipal waste and noise pollution are major environmental challenges that the city is facing. The city suffers from air pollution caused by transportation, road dust, industries and pollutant emissions. Noise pollution comes mainly from industries, transportation, aircraft etc. Water pollution and lack of adequate solid waste treatment facilities have caused serious damage to the river on whose banks Delhi grew, the Yamuna. Several steps have been taken in the recent past to improve the environment condition which includes massive focus on afforestation, universal use of CNG by commercial vehicles, ban on plastic use, better management of solid waste, treatment of waste water and improvement of sewage system etc. But still many challenges remain to contain the environmental pollution. This paper summarizes the major environmental concerns and the present status of pollution in NCT of Delhi.