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The court was hearing a suo motu PIL on Mumbai’s poor air quality and non-compliance of pollution control norms at construction sites across the city.
During the hearing, amicus curiae Darius Khambatta told the bench that there had been “multiple lapses” in compliance. “Six major public infrastructure projects and several road concretization sites, including Bandra, were found to be violating pollution control guidelines,” he told the court.
Advocate Khambatta reminded the court that on January 9, 2025, the authorities were directed to ensure installation of AQI monitors at all construction sites within a month. However, the deadline was not followed and in November 2025 it was reported that several AQI sensors were not even linked.
According to BMC’s own data, there are more than 1,900 construction sites in Mumbai, but barely 600 have complied with the AQI monitor installation guidelines. While the BMC claimed that its flying squads regularly inspect sites, Khambatta pointed out that the court-appointed panel detected non-compliance at 36 sites within just a few weeks.
The Chief Justice of Bombay High Court questioned Commissioner Gagrani and asked him when was the last time he reviewed the situation. BMC’s counsel told the court that the review was done on October 20 and 28.
Read more: Mumbai AQI: Bombay HC summons BMC chief and MPCB member-secretary over ‘cosmetic’ compliance
The bench further asked, “When was the last time you came out of your office and conducted a surprise inspection in the city.”
The lawyer responded, “Surprise visits were made in mid-November, although we do not remember the exact dates.”
BMC further told the court that as of Monday (December 22), 895 AQI monitors were operational, while 220 were not relaying data. It said that inspections were conducted and in case of violations, show cause or stop work notices were issued, adding that construction work at 148 sites was stopped since November.
However, the bench remained unconvinced. Questioning the effectiveness of enforcement, the court asked whether BMC flying squads had visited the 36 sites identified by the panel. On this, BMC assured that BMC flying squads will visit these construction sites today itself.
The court remarked, “We do not want work and development to stop. We want compliance and you (BMC and Maharashtra government) have failed to ensure compliance. We can see the pollution with our naked eyes.”
Turning to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, the court also flagged non-compliance at AQI monitoring stations and raised serious concerns about the health and safety of construction workers.
The bench pulled up the Maharashtra government. “Construction workers are exposed to dangerous pollutants. You don’t care about the poor? Do they have access to basic protective gear like face masks and were any health safety guidelines in place?” This raised questions.
Noting that air pollution occurs every year, the court stressed the need for long-term solutions. It has fixed the next hearing of the case on Wednesday, December 24.
The Court directed the Maharashtra government to submit guidelines to protect the health of construction workers and directed the BMC to submit concrete solutions to tackle air pollution along with a detailed report by December 24.
Read more: Worrying! Delhi NCR records ‘severe’ AQI at 414, only 11 stations report ‘very poor’ air