PIL in SC flags pollution as ‘health emergency’

With the air quality index (AQI) hitting ‘very poor’ or ‘poor’ categories in several parts of the country, including the national capital, a PIL in the Supreme Court has sought urgent measures to tackle the “persistent and systemic failure” in curbing rising air pollution levels across the country.

Filed last month by Luke Christopher Coutinho, a holistic health coach and wellness expert, the PIL contended that air pollution levels in the country had assumed proportions of a “public health emergency”, severely impacting citizens in both rural and urban areas.

It violated the citizens’ fundamental right to health, which was a part of right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, contended Coutinho, urging the top court to declare air pollution a national public health emergency and frame a time-bound national action plan.

“In Delhi alone, 22 lakh schoolchildren have already suffered irreversible lung damage, as confirmed by government and medical studies”, the PIL stated. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the average AQI over the last 24 hours was ‘very poor’ in Delhi (311) and Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri (337), Jind (324) and Rohtak (348), and ‘poor’ in Panchkula (275).

The petition sought immediate curbs on stubble burning and strict enforcement of industrial emission norms with real-time monitoring and public disclosure. It also sought incentives and sustainable alternatives for farmers and phasing out high-emitting vehicles and promoting e-mobility and public transport.

“The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), launched in 2019 with the target of reducing particulate matter by 20–30 per cent by 2024 (subsequently extended to 40 per cent by 2026), has not met its modest objectives. As of July 2025, official data reveals that only 25 of the 130 designated cities have achieved a 40 per cent reduction in PM10 levels from the 2017 baseline, while 25 other cities have in fact seen an increase,” it said, adding similar violations were there in Kolkata and Lucknow.

The PIL sought a direction to make NCAP targets binding with “statutory force, including clear timelines, measurable indicators and enforceable penalties for non-compliance”.

Terming air quality monitoring systems as “inadequate”, it demanded setting up a National Task Force on Air Quality and Public Health chaired by an independent environmental health expert.

The PIL made the Centre, CPCB, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), several Union ministries, NITI Aayog and the governments of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra as parties.