Hearing pleas in the issue of air quality in Maharashtra's Mumbai, the Bombay high vourt on Thursday said authorities cannot blame ash clouds from the Hayli Gubbi volcanic eruption in Ethiopia for air pollution in the metropolis.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad said the air quality index in Mumbai has been poor much before the Ethiopian volcanic ash development, reported PTI news agency.
Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia erupted on Sunday, reportedly for the first time in recorded history, sending ash plume as high as 14 kilometres and as far as the Indian subcontinent.
The ash cloud entered Delhi on Monday evening and drifted towards China, clearing Indian skies, the next day. There was no major impact of the ash cloud - which was at atmospheric level - on Delhi's already-'very poor' Air Quality Index (AQI), weather experts said.
What Bombay HC said on Mumbai AQI
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad was urged to take up hearing into a bunch of pleas from the year 2023 on the issue of air pollution in Mumbai.
{{/usCountry}}A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad was urged to take up hearing into a bunch of pleas from the year 2023 on the issue of air pollution in Mumbai.
{{/usCountry}}Senior counsels Darius Khambata and Janak Dwarkadas, appearing for the petitioners, said the AQI in the city has been consistently poor and above 300 this month.
Additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan said air pollution has worsened due to the volcanic eruption in Ethiopia two days back, a claim the court discarded.
The Bombay high court said, “Even before this eruption, if one stepped out visibility was poor beyond 500 metres,”.
Referring to the alarming AQI levels of Delhi, the Bombay high court bench asked what effective measures can be taken to address the concerning AQI in Mumbai.
"What can be the most effective measures? We are all seeing what is happening in Delhi? What is the effect of that," PTI quoted the bench as saying.
The Bombay HC posted the matter for hearing on Friday, November 28.
Mumbai AQI on Wednesday almost slipped into the “poor” category but slightly improved and remained to the moderate level on Thursday.
At 2 pm on Thursday, Mumbai's overall AQI stood at 172, according to Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) Sameer app.
As per CPCB's 4 pm bulletin of Wednesday, Mumbai’s overall AQI was 198 (moderate), up from 168 on Tuesday, and just three points away from “poor”.