The Bombay High Court on Thursday stated that the authorities cannot blame ash clouds from the volcanic eruption in Ethiopia for air pollution in the metropolis adding that the air quality index here has
been poor much before that.
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 the city.
Senior counsels Darius Khambata and Janak Dwarkadas, representing the petitioners, stated that the city’s AQI has remained consistently poor, exceeding 300 throughout this month.
Additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan said air pollution has worsened due to the volcanic eruption in Ethiopia two days back.
The court, however, dismissed this claim, observing that air pollution in the city had been severe long before the volcanic eruption.
“Even before this eruption, if one stepped out visibility was poor beyond 500 metres,” the court said.
The bench, citing the alarming AQI levels in Delhi, inquired about the effective measures that could be implemented to tackle the problem.
“What can be the most effective measures? We are all seeing what is happening in Delhi? What is the effect of that,” the bench questioned.
The court posted the matter for hearing on Friday.
Hayli Gubbi, a shield volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region, erupted on Sunday, producing a large ash plume that rose to around 14 kilometres (45,000 feet) in the sky. The plume spread eastward across the Red Sea, and towards the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent.
(With inputs from PTI)
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