Bombay High Court Says Ethiopian Volcanic Ash Not Responsible For Mumbai Pollution

The Bombay High Court sharply rebuked authorities on Thursday for attempting to attribute the city's worsening air pollution to ash clouds from a recent volcanic eruption in Ethiopia, declaring that Mumbai's air quality crisis predates the natural event by a considerable margin. A bench comprising Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad made the observation while hearing a batch of public interest litigations filed in 2023, urging immediate action on the metropolis's chronic smog issue. Additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan had cited the eruption as a contributing factor to the recent spike, but the court dismissed the claim outright, noting that visibility in Mumbai had already plummeted below 500 meters long before the ash plume arrived.

The court's intervention came amid mounting concerns over Mumbai's Air Quality Index (AQI), which has hovered consistently above 300 this month—categorized as "very poor" and hazardous to health—prompting pleas from advocates Darius Khambata and Janak Dwarkadas for expedited enforcement of pollution control measures. Referencing the dire situation in Delhi, where AQI levels have exceeded 400, the judges questioned the efficacy of existing remedial strategies, such as traffic restrictions and industrial curbs, and directed the state to submit a detailed compliance report by Friday. This ruling underscores a broader judicial push for accountability, echoing similar scrutiny in the National Green Tribunal, where local factors like vehicular emissions, construction dust, and crop residue burning are routinely flagged as primary culprits.

The controversy stems from the eruption of Ethiopia's Hayli Gubbi shield volcano in the Afar region on Sunday, November 24, 2025—the first in nearly 12,000 years—which spewed an ash plume soaring up to 14 kilometers (45,000 feet) into the atmosphere. Traced eastward across the Red Sea, Arabian Peninsula, and into the Indian subcontinent, the plume briefly disrupted flight operations in Mumbai, Delhi, and other hubs, with airlines like Air India and Akasa Air canceling routes to the Middle East and beyond. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) confirmed the ash's high-altitude trajectory minimized ground-level impact on pollution, aligning with the court's skepticism and highlighting how such events, while disruptive, cannot overshadow anthropogenic sources responsible for 70-80% of urban smog in India.

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As winter sets in, exacerbating inversion layers that trap pollutants, Mumbai's plight mirrors a national epidemic affecting over 1.3 billion people, with the World Health Organization estimating air pollution claims 1.6 million Indian lives annually. Comedian Vir Das amplified public frustration in a viral Instagram reel, quipping about lungs "adapting" to the haze and sarcastically questioning if the smog was "inside or outside." With the matter slated for further hearing, the Bombay High Court's directive serves as a clarion call for systemic reforms, including stricter enforcement of the National Clean Air Programme and investment in green infrastructure, to reclaim breathable air in one of Asia's most densely populated cities.

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