The Bombay High Court delivered a sharp rebuke on Thursday, dismissing official attempts to link Mumbai's severe air pollution to ash clouds from a recent volcanic eruption in Ethiopia. The court emphasized that the city's air quality has been dangerously poor long before this distant geological event.
Court Hearing on Mumbai's Pollution Crisis
A bench comprising Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad resumed hearings on multiple petitions filed in 2023 addressing Mumbai's persistent air pollution problem. The hearing revealed stark contrasts between citizen concerns and government explanations.
Senior counsels Darius Khambata and Janak Dwarkadas, representing the petitioners, presented alarming data showing Mumbai's Air Quality Index (AQI) has consistently remained above 300 this month, placing it in the hazardous category. They argued that the pollution crisis requires immediate and effective intervention.
Government's Volcanic Ash Defense Dismissed
Additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan attempted to attribute the recent worsening of air pollution to the Hayli Gubbi shield volcano eruption in Ethiopia's Afar region, which occurred on Sunday. The eruption produced a massive ash plume reaching approximately 14 kilometres (45,000 feet) into the atmosphere.
According to the India Meteorological Department, high-level winds carried this ash cloud across the Red Sea, Yemen, Oman, the Arabian Sea, and toward western and northern India. However, the Bombay High Court bench immediately discarded this explanation as insufficient.
"Even before this eruption, if one stepped out visibility was poor beyond 500 metres," the court remarked, highlighting that Mumbai's air pollution problem has been chronic and severe well before the volcanic event.
Searching for Effective Solutions
The judicial bench drew parallels to Delhi's alarming air quality situation, questioning what concrete measures could effectively address Mumbai's pollution crisis. "What can be the most effective measures? We are all seeing what is happening in Delhi? What is the effect of that," the bench questioned during proceedings.
Meanwhile, Mumbai's air quality continues to cause concern, with recent data showing an overall AQI around 250 as of Thursday, firmly in the "unhealthy" category. Experts and residents widely attribute the elevated dust and PM2.5 pollution to ongoing development activities, including large-scale roadwork and metro construction projects across the city.
The court has posted the matter for further hearing on Friday, indicating the urgency it attaches to finding tangible solutions to Mumbai's air quality emergency.
