Bombay High Court Takes Suo Moto Cognisance Of Deteriorating Air Quality In Mumbai, To Issue Comprehensive Directions

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday took suo motu cognisance of the poor air quality in Mumbai, while hearing a PIL on the same issue.

The court said the Central and State Pollution Control Boards, State Government, Union and all Municipal Corporations should be made party and should state the measures taken by them to address the concern.

"We will pass a detailed order. We are also taking suo Motu cognisance of the air quality in Mumbai city. What measures have been taken by these authorities. AQI is deteriorating everywhere, not even a single area is spared."

The court then placed the matter for further hearing on November 6 and said it would issue comprehensive directions on that day.

It also allowed the petitioners to amend the petition. The court said the existing matter could be tagged to the Suo Motu PIL.

The High Court was hearing a fresh public interest litigation (PIL) seeking judicial intervention to address the "problem of extreme air pollution in Mumbai".

The PIL stated that Mumbai with its 1.7 crore residents has seen a steep rise in people falling sick in recent times, ailing from lung infections and coughs.

The petition seeks directions for an inquiry into workings of the Civic Gardens and Trees Department for the last decade. It further seeks to audit their accounts, availability of manpower and details on tree plantation in the last 10 years.

"In its latest climate assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change made it very clear that the climate crisis is accelerating at a pace like never before and warned that it is 'now or never' to limit global warming to 1.5C. From deforestation and droughts to air pollution and plastic waste, there are several factors exacerbating global warming,'' the PIL said, pointing out the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution also includes the right to a healthy environment.

The plea is filed by Mazgaon resident Amar Tike, 50, Virar resident Anand Jha, 44 and Sanjay Surve, 39 from Dombivali East, through advocate Prashant Pandey.

It cited various articles to highlight the plight of pollution in the city. They further contended that despite being statutorily obligated the civic body has failed to discharge its duties and resolve the air pollution issue or provide green cover.

Citing one of the articles they said, "It it is shocking to note that BMC is claiming to have planted some trees at the cost averaging at Rs 15,000 per tree, wherein Rs 15 crore are claimed to have been allocated and spent on planting of 10,000 trees.''