The Times of India , Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Correspondent : Purushottam Kumar

The Patna high court has directed the environment and forest department to file its reply by March 3 on a PIL regarding increasing air pollution in the state. Hearing the PIL, a division bench of acting Chief Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari and Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh questioned, "Is there any environment department in Bihar and where is the department secretary?" Earlier, the court had asked Bihar State Pollution Control Board to file a counter affidavit in which it mentioned that the air quality index (AQI) in Patna in November was almost 400 whereas it should have been between 0 and 51. The court took suo motto cognisance of a story published in a newspaper on December 15 It was mentioned in the news report that the number of vehicles in Patna had gone up almost 78%, from 5.16 lakh in 2009 to 9.21 lakh in 2014.

SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/High-court-seeks-govt-reply-on-air-pollution/articleshow/51015768.cms