HC unhappy with air quality control measures, sets up committee to monitor compliance

The committee will comprise a former Supreme Court judge and a former chief justice of high court, and will be assisted by a technical expert. It will be empowered to issue directions or recommendations to civic bodies to ensure implementation of the court’s orders, a division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Gautam Ankhad said

MUMBAI: Observing that measures taken by civic authorities have failed to effectively curb air pollution across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the Bombay High Court on Thursday constituted a high-powered committee to monitor compliance with its directions on air quality control.

Bombay High Court (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

The committee will comprise a former Supreme Court judge and a former chief justice of high court, and will be assisted by a technical expert. It will be empowered to issue directions or recommendations to civic bodies to ensure implementation of the court’s orders, a division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Gautam Ankhad said, passing an order while hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) initiated in 2023, along with several intervention applications filed following the recent deterioration in Mumbai’s air quality index (AQI).

Senior advocate Darius Khambata, appointed as amicus curiae, and senior advocate Janak Dwarkadas, appearing for city-based environmental group Vanashakti, suggested that the committee be assisted by an expert from IIT Bombay with experience in air pollution studies, as well as a medical professional. They also proposed evolving a mechanism to compensate citizens affected by air pollution.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) strongly opposed granting the committee the power to issue directions, arguing that it would encroach upon the statutory domain of civic authorities. “Under the guise of seeking compliance reports, such a committee should not be vested with statutory powers,” submitted NMMC’s counsel.

NMMC also objected to the inclusion of a medical expert, contending that a doctor was “not qualified” to be part of the panel, and instead suggested the inclusion of a town planning expert. BMC echoed similar objections, stating that a medical professional was unnecessary.

Referring to its earlier orders from November 2023, the bench observed that despite flagging important short, mid, and long-term measures to improve air quality in the city, the situation has actually worsened over the years. With the air quality reported as “very severe” in December, the court stated that the actions taken by the corporations and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) were not sufficient.

“Mere filing of affidavits won’t suffice. They might have taken serious steps, but results are not reflected”, it said.

The bench also referred to findings of a court-appointed committee from November 2025, which had identified 36 construction sites in absolute violation of pollution control norms. On Thursday, the court noted that civic authorities had failed to reflect these findings in their reports and had not placed inspection details on record.

Highlighting the adverse impact of air pollution on infants, women and senior citizens, the court said that the 91 BMC squads deployed to enforce pollution mitigation measures at construction sites appeared to be “not working at all” and were barely conducting inspections. While clarifying that it was not fixing blame on individual corporations, the bench said the overall outcome of their actions remained unsatisfactory.

The court directed the newly constituted committee to meet daily in the initial phase to evolve solutions, and thereafter on a fortnightly basis. It also ordered civic authorities to provide the committee with adequate infrastructure, logistics and remuneration to enable it to function effectively.