New Delhi, India :
A public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court urging the judiciary to recognise the country’s escalating air pollution as a national public health emergency and to direct immediate remedial action by authorities. The petition, lodged by wellness advocate Luke Christopher Coutinho, who is associated with the Fit India Movement, warns that deteriorating air quality is endangering public health across both urban centres and rural communities.
The plea argues that despite laws and policy programmes aimed at improving air quality, pollutants persistently exceed the limits set under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), 2009. The petition highlights long-term average concentrations of fine particulate matter — PM2.5 and PM10 — in many major cities as evidence of sustained non-compliance, and invokes citizens’ constitutional right to life and health under Article 21 to press for stronger enforcement and wider protective measures.
According to details in the petition, NAAQS caps the annual mean for PM2.5 at 40 μg/m³ and for PM10 at 60 μg/m³. The filing points out that measured annual averages in several urban areas remain well above these thresholds, with some cities recording figures several times the national limits. The petitioner contrasts India’s standards with the World Health Organization’s 2021 guidelines, which recommend far lower annual limits for particulate pollution, underlining the gap between current exposure levels and what health experts consider safe.
Beyond headline city statistics, the petition raises systemic concerns about the country’s air quality governance. It contends that monitoring infrastructure is too sparse and unevenly distributed, heavily biased towards urban locations while leaving rural districts, industrial belts and informal settlements effectively unmonitored. The filing cites expert recommendations for a far larger network of monitoring stations — thousands more than currently installed — to capture true exposure patterns and eliminate “data shadows” where vulnerable populations are not reflected in official records.
The plea also criticises enforcement mechanisms and regulatory follow-through under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and complementary regulations. It alleges fragmented oversight, insufficient investment in pollution control, and outsourcing of compliance functions have weakened regulatory teeth, enabling persistent emissions from some industrial and transport sources. The petitioner asks the court to direct central and state agencies to strengthen monitoring, increase transparency, and implement evidence-driven interventions to reduce emissions rapidly.
Framing the situation as a public health crisis, the petition calls for urgent measures to protect citizens who are regularly exposed to hazardous air. Suggested actions include expanding and upgrading the national monitoring network, adopting stricter emission norms aligned with international health guidance, targeted relief for high-risk communities, and a coordinated national response that prioritises health outcomes alongside economic considerations.
The Supreme Court has been asked to list the matter for hearing and to issue appropriate directions to the Centre, pollution control bodies, state governments and other relevant authorities. The filing seeks binding timelines and reporting requirements to ensure that promised reforms translate into measurable improvements in air quality and public health protection.
