The summer of 2018 in Delhi, Rajasthan and other parts of Western and Northern India kicked off with a series of dust storms leading to levels of air pollution rated beyond the ‘severe’ mark on the Central Pollution Control Board’s scale. In the National Capital Region (NCR), emergency action under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) has included an order to stop all civil construction activities.
It is likely that the desertification of the world’s oldest mountain chain, Aravallis, is one of the major causes. Deforestation and developmental activities in the region have destroyed the once dense forests covering most of the mountain range.
