Wrong To Say Mumbai's Air Quality Worsened Due To Ethiopian Volcanic Eruption: Bombay High Court To Maharashtra Govt

The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to accept the contention of the Maharastra Government that the air quality in Mumbai has deteriorated due to the ash clouds from the volcanic eruption in Ethiopia.

A division bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad pointed out that the volcanic eruption took place only on November 23 while there has been low visibility in the city even before that. 

"No no... we cannot accept this... Even before this eruption (of volcano) if one stepped out, the visibility was poor... one cannot see properly even at a distance of 500 metres," Chief Justice Chandrashekhar remarked. 

This comes in response to the contention raised by Additional Government Pleader Jyoti Chavan, who submitted that the air quality in the city has become poor only after the volcanic eruption in Ethiopia as ash clouds drifted from there to several States in India including Maharashtra. 

The submission was however, rejected by the bench at the outset. 

The issue came to fore after senior advocates Darius Khambatta and Janak Dwarkadas mentioned the 2023's Suo Motu Public Interest Litigation (SMPIL) before the judges and urged court's intervention highlighting the fact that when the court first took cognisance of the issue in 2023, the air quality in Mumbai was 200 while now it has crossed even 300 in several parts of the city. 

Having entertained the request of the senior advocates, the judges pointed out that they must even study the impact of the effective measures undertaken at Delhi, which is reeling under severe air pollution. 

The bench even asked the senior advocates to come up with some more workable and effective measures to combat the menace of air pollution. 

The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on November 28.